Spring/Summer Gateway 2023

Prickly pear cactus fruit jam, jelly &
syrup harvested here in Gila County!
If your
only taste
of cactus
fruit juice was
a sugary, socalled
prickly
pear margarita
at a Scottsdale
restaurant
– just
wait ‘til you
try the real
thing; healthy,
100% prickly
pear juice or
syrup harvested
and bottled
by Tonto Basin
Cactus culinary artists
Anne Marie and Chris Hansel.
They also make prickly
pear jams and jellies
blended with everything
from pineapple, pomegranate,
cranberry, or black
cherry raspberry to orange
marmalade and prickly
pear honey. Got a taste
for something a bit more
‘picante’ or robust? Try
their jalapeno jam or garlic
spread; both, of course,
infused with the singular
color and flavor of prickly
pear cactus fruit juice.
Need a gift with a taste
and ‘terroir’ that’s wholly
unique to Gila County? Tonto
Basin Cactus Products
features locally-sourced
prickly pear fruit that Anne
Marie and Chris pick at optimal
mid-summer ripeness
-- then creatively cook into
tasty options ranging from
classic prickly pear jam to
Courtesy photo
blends listed above. Or how
about a cup of prickly pear
tea? Our iconic Sonoran
Desert cactus fruit ripen
during July and August.
Anyone who has scanned
nervously for a diamondback
rattlesnake coiled
beneath a promising patch
of p’pears, or winced at
a handful of painful cactus
spines, will agree that
$9 a bottle is a bargain for
the unique desert nectar.
Unlike some competitors,
Anne Marie and Chris don’t
water down their prickly
pear juice, or doctor it
with unhealthy corn syrup.
Anne Marie and Chris usually
sell their tasty products
beneath a pop-up tent
at craft fairs and festivals
throughout Arizona. Their
website is open 24-7, and
you can also order by
phone, or ask questions,
with a call to 602-370-3940.
How did they get started in
the business of cactus cuisine?
In 2006 they bought
a prickly pear-covered lot
just north of Roosevelt
Lake. It was springtime
and the cactus thickets
“were in their yellow rose
of Texas flowering stage” –
which produced a bumper
crop of juicy, red fruits
a couple of months later.
“We started collecting them
and reading up on their
uses -- wow, did we learn a
lot! We decided to go into
the prickly pear business,
and in the ten years since
we have refined our techniques
and skills so that
today, we now think we
have the finest prickly pear
products in the Southwest,”
said the Hansels. “She does
the cooking, I do the picking.
Our prickly pear products
are all handmade. Each
jar or bottle is produced
in small batches, one at a
time, in our own commer-
Courtesy photo
cial kitchen located on our
prickly pear ranch. We pick
our own prickly pear; we
have a limited inventory.
We don’t have a factory or
warehouse – we’re truly a
‘mom-and-pop’ company.”
Their website, tontobasincactus.com,
has links to
reports of pharmaceutical
studies from across the
planet that confirm what
Apaches and other Native
Americans of the desert
Southwest have known all
along; not only are prickly
pears tasty, but these iconic
cactus fruit may prolong
your life and assuage
ailments from diabetes to
cholesterol and high blood
pressure. Adding prickly
pears, rich in vitamins,
minerals, antioxidants and
bioflavonoids, to your diet
can help level blood sugar,
lower cholesterol and reduce
digestive system inflammation.
20 Gateway to the Copper Corridor 2023