RECIPES
*crudites st. pierre*
slice raw, peeled cactus into sticks. eat like "bitter cucumber spears". add salt, lime-juice and chopped cilantro to taste. this is, so far, my method of choice, partly because it is so minimalist.
*ensalada de nopalitos*
to each 4 oz of peeled, chopped raw cactus add 2 Tbs good-quality cider vinegar, and let stand in the refrigerator for at least an hour. add chopped parsely to taste. this is the second-best tasting recipe.
*nopales asados*
fry raw, peeled cactus strips in extra-virgin olive oil over medium- high heat, until the sharp edges brown, and small golden-brown blisters rise up on the faces. this ties for second best-tasting. the white tissue, in particular, has an underlying quality of sweetness that is brought out by frying, and the contrast of the crispness with the now-gelatinous interior is rather nice. serve lightly salted.
*nopales al vapor*
to 1 2/3 C peeled, trimmed, and chopped fresh cactus add 1 Tbs chopped scallions, a minced clove of garlic and salt to taste. fry in 1 Tbs olive oil, covered, over low-medium heat for 10 min. shake the pan from time to keep the cactus from sticking. when the juice has started to flow, uncover the pan and cook for an additional 15 minutes, until the juice has evaporated some, the residue has begun to resorb, and the cactus is lightly browned. scrape the pan with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking. yield 1/2 C.
this is the best-tasting recipe. my concern is that some of the mescaline might stick to the pan rather than being entirely resorbed, although perhaps it is not carried out of the tissues in the mucilage, but remains behind in the cells. it *does* significantly reduce the volume of the cactus material.
*chunky snot tea*
add 1 - 2 Tbs cactus granules to 1 C hot water, and let stand for a bit. insignificant-looking granules swell to rice-grain size, and even finely chopped and ground fibrous tissue become noticeable "chunky-bits". the mucilage becomes quite pronounced, dripping in strings from the stirring spoon. adding the juice of 1/2 lime, or so, decreases the bitterness.
i wish that i could say that the mucilage reconstitutes as a silky unction, reminiscent of some beloved child-hood comfort food, but what it really reminded me of was a bad head-cold. tossing the reconstituted tea back into the blender smoothes out the texture some. i can't help thinking that this treatment has potential, but i'm darned if i can make it manifest.
*cactus jerky*
the peeled, sliced, and dried cactus sticks can be eaten out-of-hand. this is my second-favorite recipe. it is more work than "cactus sticks", but can be made ahead, and is quite handy. since the mucilage begins to reconstitute during chewing this has the unnerving property of "the more you chew, the more there is to chew".
CONVERSIONS AND YIELDS
a widely-quoted figure says that t. pachanoi (wet) is 0.12% mescaline. freeze-dried unpeeled t. pachanoi is quoted at 2%. it is my impression that fresh cactus varies significantly in entheogenic activity, but this might be due primarily to water content, rather than environmental or cultural considerations. home-drying is probably not as complete as freeze-drying.
8 oz (226 gms) whole, unpeeled, fresh cactus == 270 mg mescaline
12 oz (340 gms) whole, unpeeled, fresh cactus == 400 mg mescaline
2-2.5" dia fresh unpeeled ~= 1.5 oz/in
3.5-4" dia fresh unpeeled ~= 3.5 oz/in
16 oz. fresh cactus ~= 3 oz. fibrous pith
+ 6 oz. white tissue
+ 6 oz. green tissue
+ 1 oz. skin and spines.
12 oz. fresh cactus == 1 oz. dried (+ 7/8 oz. peel).
1 oz. dried cactus == 2 slightly heaping Tbs cactus granules
4 oz. fresh cactus == 5/8 C chopped.
and meet me at....
