"Arri London" > wrote in message
...
>
> Certainly around here (NM) homemade tamales come with all sorts of
> fillings, sweet and savoury.

Meat tamales in California traditionally have olives in them. The variations
are a somewhat new thing around here. One wonderful tamale that has been the
introduction of cheese and green chile tamales! Marvelous! I don't know
where they were imported from but the use of Monterey Jack cheese seems to
indicate that they have been integrated if not home developed. Sweet tamales
are now much easier to find here - which is a good thing!

> Cactus fruit (tuna) is available in local shops and products made from
> it.

I remember gathering these as a child (a long time ago) here in Sandy Eggo.
We generally ate them as a fresh fruit. Later in life, I often gathered them
at my workplace where they grew in abundance. Those of us who gathered them
usually ate them "out of hand" - with caution! ;-) It isn't too far to
travel from N.M. to Sandy Eggo. Please consider joining us on June 12th! I'd
love to meet you in person!

Cheerio,
Charlie