Chumbo refers to a Spanish exotic fruit that can be found growing wild almost everywhere. Seemingly impaled on the spikes of its cactus parent, these pear-sized fruits are ripe when at their reddest, that means around October.

A word of caution is to never pick or peel them without gloves on. A fine covering of apparently soft spikes will cause endless irritation and take days to remove. Normally, vendors will show you how to prepare them.

Chumbo is also known as prickly pear