Barbary ducks are descended from Muscovy ducks, Barbary ducks are slaughtered when they are up to three months old and well into the second feather stage. Males can be twice the size of females, so the weight range is enormous. It is a less fatty bird, with a more mature, gamey flavour than most other ducks, and has a thin skin with no layer of fat underneath. It should be cooked more slowly and needs to be basted, unlike other ducks. It is often cooked with sauce to moisten the meat.
Prickly pear. The delicious but risky fruit of a cactus. The sweet, juicy flesh ripens from green to a deep apricot-pink colour. It is sensible to use leather gloves when dealing with these fruit as they are covered in fine, penetrating prickles. They are normally eaten raw but can be cooked, with the edible seeds becoming hard with cooking.
Prickly pear. The delicious but risky fruit of a cactus. The sweet, juicy flesh ripens from green to a deep apricot-pink colour. It is sensible to use leather gloves when dealing with these fruit as they are covered in fine, penetrating prickles. They are normally eaten raw but can be cooked, with the edible seeds becoming hard with cooking.
The barbel is a European river fish related to the carp with little taste, many bones and barbels around the mouth. It has a brown back, yellowish sides and a white abdomen. It is usually poached or braised. In Africa and Asia it grows three times larger.
A variety of sharply flavoured, spicy sauces for serving with barbecued foods. They can consist of tomato purée mixed with meat juices, horseradish, concentrated juice of garlic and onions, mustard or chilli powder, paprika or cayenne pepper, vinegars, Worcestershire sauce or chilli sauces.
The barberry is the fruit of various species of the prickly bush berberis that grows in many places around the world. They are used mainly for preserves, tarts, sauces and flavouring purposes. In autumn (US: fall) the bush produces tart, bright red berries, rich in tartaric and malic acids, that are used to make jellies and syrups. Unripe green berries can be preserved in vinegar in the same way as capers.
Prickly pear. The delicious but risky fruit of a cactus. The sweet, juicy flesh ripens from green to a deep apricot-pink colour. It is sensible to use leather gloves when dealing with these fruit as they are covered in fine, penetrating prickles. They are normally eaten raw but can be cooked, with the edible seeds becoming hard with cooking.
