The beans are prepared for use by being pounded up in a mortar with a stone pestle, or, if a large quantity is required, with a large wooden one. The pods may be ground with the beans, Another method of preparation is to separate the beans from the pods, parch them by tossing them up in a pan of live coals, and reduce them to meal by grinding, whereupon they may be eaten as pinole. This has a sweetish taste and is reputed to be very nourishing.
The catkins of the mesquite are eaten without preparation by stripping from the stem between the teeth.
The white gum which exudes from the mesquite limbs is used in making candy.
The inner bark is employed as a substitute for rennet.
Koʼkitc uhûtaki, Parkinsonia microphylla (in the foothills); P. torreyana (on the mesas) (pl. X, b). The paloverde bean was formerly eaten either as gathered or after being pounded in the mortar. It was not eaten as pinole, but was sometimes mixed with mesquite meal.
Koʼmûlt. The heads are gathered and washed, sometimes twice, then boiled in an olla with a little water. Wheat flour and a seasoning of salt are added and the whole is stirred until the heads fall to pieces.
Koʼ-okupaltûk. According to tradition the seeds were eaten in primitive times, but no one now knows how they were prepared. The plant is now boiled with meat as greens.
Koʼûtcĭlt, Prosopis pubescens. Screw beans are abundant along the banks of the Gila. They are cooked in pits which are lined with arrow bushes set on end. The beans are placed in layers alternating with cocklebur leaves, the whole covered with earth and left to stand three or four days, after which they are taken out and spread to dry. They are then ready to use or store away in the arrow-bush basket bins on the house tops. They are further prepared for food by pounding up in a mortar, the fine flour then being ready to be eaten as pinole. The coarser portion is taken up in the hands with water, the juice sucked through the fingers, and the remainder rejected.
Kwaʼʌolt, Licium fremontii var. The red berry is boiled and eaten.
Mâ-âtatûk. This is described as resembling asparagus. The stems may be eaten raw or boiled or roasted in the ashes.
Meʼla, Citrullus vulgaris Shrad. Watermelons are among the most important crops of the Pimas and are eaten during at least six months of the year.
Nafʼ, Opuntia engelmanni. The thorns are brushed off the fruit of the prickly pear before it is gathered. It is then peeled and eaten, the seeds being thrown away. The Papagos make a sirup from the fruit (which is said to cause fever in those not accustomed to its use)
