This Is Your Mind on Plants

by Michael Pollan

The second method Taloma showed me for cooking the cactus was both easier and more gratifying, though it works only with a fairly young plant that hasn’t yet developed a woody core. After removing the spines from a foot-long length of cactus, you simply slice it through the center, as thinly as possible. This yields dozens of paper-thin six-pointed stars, their bright chartreuse coronas fading to snowy white at the center. Taloma piled these stars in a tall spaghetti pot, filled it nearly to the brim with water, and put it on a burner. This is when the domestic cooking scene gave way to something more ceremonial. Taloma lit her sage and smudged the pot of cactus with its smoke. Then she bent over the pot, looking down at its bright green stars bobbing in the clear water, said a prayer, and, in Spanish, began to sing. Before Taloma left, she offered these instructions: bring the pot of cactus to a rolling boil and cook it for three days, more or less, being careful to add more water whenever the level in the pot dropped below a couple of inches. When the stars turn from white to translucent, it is ready. Cool, then filter the mash through a fine cloth, put the pot back on the stove, and reduce the liquid by half. Pour the tea into Mason jars and store in the refrigerator.