Is May’s brutal heat getting you down? It’s the perfect time to follow the lead of your Mexican neighbors by sampling the wide array of typical hot season coolers featuring the nation’s cornucopia of natural produce.
Agua fresca (cool water) is a light, non-alcoholic beverage made by blending plain water with fresh fruits, flowers, seeds or grains, usually sweetened to taste with cane sugar and chilled with an abundant dose of ice.
The flavoring options are endless, but tangy ingredients such as limón (lime), tamarindo (tamarind), jamaica (hibiscus flower) and arrayán (myrtle berries) are great choices to refresh the palate. Agua de limón mixed with chia seeds, or a blend of cucumber and lime juice also do the trick.
Other popular fruit flavors include orange, mango, pineapple, lima (sweet lime), passion fruit and strawberry. Green drinks are made with hierbabuena (mint) or alfalfa, sometimes mixed with pineapple for an added sour punch. Agua de arroz (rice) or cebada (barley) – often referred to as horchata – is a tasty combination of grains, water, and fresh or evaporated milk, spiced up with a hint of cinnamon.
Invent your own mix and try enhancing with agave syrup, honey, stevia or other alternate sweetners.
Tejuino (tee-whee-no), a lightly fermented drink made from masa (corn dough), pilloncillo (brown sugar cones) and lime juice, is a specialty of Jalisco derived from a ritual beverage of the Huichol Indians. After a couple of days of aging, the thick, tan-colored atole (gruel) is chilled, and tossed together with an extra shot of lime juice just before being poured into a cup and topped with scoop of icy lime sorbet. It’s an acquired taste, highly prized by connoisseurs.
Commonly sold by Guadalajara street vendors (especially around the Morelos Park), Tejuino may be found at Arrañaga chain outlets in downtown Chapala, on the highway in La Floresta, the intersection with Colon in Ajijic and the home store on the Jocotepec plaza. Another Arrañaga speciality is the diablito, a tongue-tingling cup of lime or mango sherbet jazzed up with a dose of chile powder.
Nieve de garrafa is handmade ice cream or sherbet made in myriad flavors. The name comes from the process of preparing the coarse textured frozen delight in a stainless steel container churned the old fashioned-way inside in a wooden barrel packed with ice and salt.
Nieve raspada or raspado is the Mexican version of the snow cone. It is made by pouring flavored heavy syrup over a cup filled with hand-shaved ice. Coconut, vanilla and all sorts of fruits are used in maki
ng the liquid base. A spoon and a straw are provided to savor every last drop.
Chopped or grated fresh fruits and veggies such as mango, papaya, watermelon, pineapple, orange, cucumber and jícama, usually seasoned with salt, lime juice and chile, are consumed by Mexican folks all year round, these natural goodies are especially enticing when the temperature rises.
A seasonal specialty not to be missed is the pitaya, a native cactus fruit noted for its heavenly sweetness and the vivid magenta, purple and yellow tones of it succulent flesh.
Baskets of fresh-picked pitayas come to market in May and June, at the height of the dry season. Most of the fruit is cultivated in the arid region situated to the southwest of Lake Chapala in the vicinity of Techaluta, Tolimán, Amacueca, Atoyac, Zacoalco and Sayula.
A famous market dedicated to the fruit is set up each year at the Nueve Esquinas in downtown Guadalajara (Colon and Fermin Riestra), usually running from the start of May through mid-June.
Do not be put off by the brain-like innards. Pitayas are a tasty and refreshing treat during the hot summer. They come in white, pink, and orange varieties, but the deep red mamey is recognized as the sweetest of the bunch. The fruit is usually scooped out of its skin with a spoon and eaten immediately. Prices depend on the size of the pitaya, and run about six to ten pesos each.