I have to warn you, my interest in nopales is becoming borderline obsessive. I'm watching my once proud and mighty cactus plant rebound from the cold winter and embrace Spring with new paddles and new prickly pears and I'm getting excited.

In Mexico a few weeks ago, I had a delicious molcajete with shrimp, octopus and nopales. Molcajetes are a little gimmicky, but they're great. The lava is heated to the point where it's red hot and then the ingredients are grilled on the hot lava, along with a tomato-based broth and cheese. It arrives at the table still bubbling and it's a great sense of theater. It's also a lot more interesting than fajitas.

The dish is served with tortillas and the cactus and shrimp combination is one that deserves to be explored more.