It is difficult to imagine how on earth someone discovered the extraordinary nature of this intimidating delicacy. They grab the whole fruit and with a quick flick of the wrist breaks it off the plant, leaving it inside the container. If you can get past its threatening exterior, you will see something that I have been told is a huge turn-off for visiting Americans: the bulk of the fruit (except for a bit of brightly colored pulp) is seeds. The prickly pear, or fico d’India in Italian, is the fruit that grows on the end of cacti like in the photo. Reproduction or retransmission of the materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, except for non-commercial, personal use, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, is a violation of copyright law.

But it's not the obvious large spines of this cactus that are the problem, the real danger is from the tiny, nearly invisible hair-like spines that completely cover the skin of the fruit that you have to watch out for. Educated in both countries and immersed in the culture and language of each, she seamlessly bridges both worlds. They are known for their purifying properties and in folk medicine are often considered fruits with excellent therapeutic potential. It would take a couple of hours with tweezers and a couple of days of occasional winces and more tweezering until the painful moments dissipated. My French friend who accompanied me once to Sicily was horrified at how casually they were eaten there, as in France they are used as a laxative.

I bought a box that came with six pieces (to be honest, I was attracted to the colours that’s why I bought it). He brought it to Italy, where it flourished, and where Sicily is now the second-largest producer of the cactus fruit after its homeland. Of all the exoticism found in the Calabrese landscape the fichi d’india, or prickly pears, stand out as particularly interesting. Should you be around in March/April and happen to be walking along a well-known foot/bike path in Melbourne’s west, you may perchance notice a seemingly pleasant older couple strolling along, wearing gloves and hovering around a specific area, heads darting from left to right occasionally to check for passers by, also holding a strange elongated object in one hand, plastic bags in the other. The Festa al Fresco (hosted with Lis) 2006 was the first event that I really sat up and paid attention to, that really inspired me to get off my duff and get cooking.

Unless someone had peeled them and set them in front of me, I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to try them either. Approaching the car with my bag of fruit, I was suddenly struck by what felt like a covering of splinters on my hands and even my lips. The startling changes in elevation, for example, travelling on the numerous, via Nazionale, switchbacks from Bagnara Calabra on the coast to Pellegrina in the hills is mind blowing.They are full of seeds (edible) and many non Sicilians may not like them but they really are worth trying. They also happily negotiate the tiny spindly needle-like prickles, which are as fine as silk and are the most painful spine to have stuck in your fingers or hands.

It turns out that when bitterness drives you to selfish, harmful acts of revenge, you’re usually the biggest loser in the transaction. The exotic prickly pear (fico d’india) is a delicacy in Sicily and thrives around the entire island.

I suppose most people would say it’s just a bit rustic but for anything closer you’re fine picking with the tongs instead. We had just come back from the beach, so I was definitely tempting fate wandering down in my cover-up and flip flops, but I waved the camera at him and assured him I wouldn’t be touching anything as we picked our way through the sticky obstacle course.