Mexico’s cherished biznaga cactus is on verge of extinction : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3900x2600+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7e%2Fbe%2F82fac17343b08db5982dd638fd63%2Fap594703439339.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3900x2600+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7e%2Fbe%2F82fac17343b08db5982dd638fd63%2Fap594703439339.jpg" class="img" alt="Endangered barrel cactuses known as biznaga are seen growing inside the botanical gardens of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City." fetchpriority="high"/> Endangered barrel cactuses often known as biznaga are seen rising contained in the botanical gardens of the Nationwide Autonomous College of Mexico in Mexico Metropolis. Rebecca Blackwell/AP disguise caption

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Rebecca Blackwell/AP MEXICO CITY — Despite the fact that it is unlawful, bars of acitrón are stacked in practically each stall on the Merced market in Mexico Metropolis.

They appear like lemon bars. However they're items of barrel cactus which were chopped up after which seeped in vats of sugar till they're crystalized.

Edith Hernández Torres, who runs a store right here, wraps hers in cellophane. She says acitrón is particular, that it tastes nothing just like the candied lemon or candy potato or the pineapple she additionally sells.

"It has a chewy texture," she says, "like one thing roasted."

The Mexican authorities started banning the sale of acitrón within the early 2000s. That is after they discovered that the biznaga cactus — a species of barrel cactus — was at risk of extinction on account of overexploitation.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5120x3840+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F67%2F6c%2Fb10dcb69499faa1198240d54d676%2Fphoto-2025-09-15-13-26-21.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5120x3840+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F67%2F6c%2Fb10dcb69499faa1198240d54d676%2Fphoto-2025-09-15-13-26-21.jpg" class="img" alt="Acitrón on sale at a stall in Merced market in Mexico City." loading="lazy"/> Acitrón on sale at a stall in Merced market in Mexico Metropolis. Eyder Peralta/NPR disguise caption

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Eyder Peralta/NPR Hernández is aware of acitrón is illegitimate, however her prospects demand it. When NPR asks if she would not really feel dangerous about promoting one thing that is going extinct, she shrugs.

"Our complete planet goes extinct," she mentioned.

As she speaks, María Julia Gutiette picks up a bar of acitrón. She does it gently, like she's choosing up a bar of gold.

Her husband and this nation had been born on the identical day: Sept. 16. So, yearly, Gutiette buys the pears, the peaches, the pink pine nuts and the acitrón to make the make chiles en nogada, a conventional dish that's eaten from August to early October.

"Traditions are the salt and pepper of life," she mentioned. "They're that further one thing that makes life extraordinary."

When she says this, her eyes tear up. She by no means had chiles en nogada rising up as a result of the elements had been too costly. However then, she studied, she grew to become a nurse and moved to Mexico Metropolis.

"Whenever you develop up and make your individual cash, you save for good issues," she mentioned. And so for Independence Day, she desires to deal with her household to one thing particular. And the chiles en nogada, she says, should be made with acitrón.

"Cacti do not develop like grass" On the Nationwide Autonomous College of Mexico's botanical backyard, there's a complete part devoted to barrel cactuses. It is the sort of cactus that performed an necessary function in Mexico even earlier than the Spanish launched the sugar that made it so candy. The cactus seems within the Aztec codices and the identify comes from a Nahuatl phrase which means a pot coated in spines.

"In Mexico, we have now greater than 150 species of biznaga," mentioned Salvador Arias, a biologist who runs the botanical gardens. Most of them are going extinct within the wild.

He factors towards the golden barrel cactus whose spines make it appear like a rising solar. Mexico constructed a hydroelectric dam, the place these golden barrel cactuses dwell and right away their atmosphere was destroyed and this species was virtually worn out.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5300x3533+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fed%2Fa3%2F934a50aa477b9b24949419ff2159%2Fgettyimages-2207219833.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5300x3533+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fed%2Fa3%2F934a50aa477b9b24949419ff2159%2Fgettyimages-2207219833.jpg" class="img" alt="Barrel cactuses bloom The Huntington gardens in San Marino, Calif." loading="lazy"/> Barrel cactuses bloom The Huntington gardens in San Marino, Calif. Residents of the Planet/Common Photos Group through Getty Photos disguise caption

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Residents of the Planet/Common Photos Group through Getty Photos A number of the cacti are 40 years outdated and so they attain to your thigh. Others are 8 years outdated and they're tiny, simply the dimensions of your fist.

"These cacti do not develop like grass, as a result of their metabolism is very sluggish," Arias mentioned. "It is so sluggish they could develop millimeters a yr."

This implies farming the biznaga is neither sensible nor worthwhile, in order that they're harvested from the wild. That has left dozens of species on the verge of extinction.

"However I am an optimist," he mentioned. "I imagine that cacti have developed previously to thrive in contrasting environments. I believe they will do it once more."

He walks towards his assortment of nopales, the cactus that adorns the Mexican flag, the cactus that's an on a regular basis staple in Mexican kitchens. However this species is flourishing due to an evolutionary adaptation.

"The nopal is modular," he mentioned. It grows in a sort of chain, so not like the biznaga, people can minimize off and eat the latest shoots with out killing the entire plant.

"The Soul of Mexico" The chef of the restaurant Azul doesn't use acitrón. However his chiles en nogada are legendary.

They're so necessary that after they start serving them in August, the desk cloths go black and the silverware goes gold.

"It is a yearly ritual," chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita mentioned.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3840x5120+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffc%2F6c%2F8dd996294a9e8ef72f6749f41104%2Fphoto-2025-09-15-13-26-21-2.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3840x5120+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffc%2F6c%2F8dd996294a9e8ef72f6749f41104%2Fphoto-2025-09-15-13-26-21-2.jpg" class="img" alt="Chiles en nogada, a traditional dish that is eaten in Mexico from August to early October. Made from poblano peppers, stuffed with meat, pears, peaches, pine nuts and sometimes — but not in this case — acitrón, and bathed in nogada, a walnut cream sauce, and garnished with pomegranate seeds and parsley." loading="lazy"/> Chiles en nogada, a conventional dish that's eaten in Mexico from August to early October. Comprised of poblano peppers, full of meat, pears, peaches, pine nuts and typically — however not on this case — acitrón, and bathed in nogada, a walnut cream sauce, and garnished with pomegranate seeds and parsley. Eyder Peralta/NPR disguise caption

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Eyder Peralta/NPR First, the waiters deliver out a tray of poblano peppers topped with a inexperienced, white and crimson bow. And after they place one on the plate, they douse it with a creamy walnut sauce, as silky as melted white chocolate.

"This plate is the soul of Mexico," mentioned Muñoz. "It tastes just like the motherland, like independence. It tastes like Mexico itself."

Muñoz makes a recipe from 1821, which is what was served to the independence hero Agustín de Iturbide in Puebla proper after signing a treaty that consummated Mexico's independence.

However a number of years in the past, the chef stepped away from that recipe and stopped utilizing biznaga. As a substitute, he began utilizing candied chilacayote, which is a kind of squash.

"In reality, it would not have an effect on the ultimate style," he mentioned. Certainly, he performed blind style assessments and nobody may inform the distinction.

"However Mexicans maintain tight to traditions," he mentioned. "In case you discovered to make it out of your grandma or mother and so they used acitrón, I perceive why they'd need to hold utilizing it."