I am about to give you one of the best kept secrets of my mom's kitchen, that is, the recipe for the best ever "agua de limón". As some of you may know, a very typical treat in Mexico are
"aguas frescas", cold beverages often made of juice, water, fresh fruit, sugar and lots of ice. You can buy them from street stalls, but they are also an everyday drink in almost every household. Flavors can be as varied as there are fruits: mango, guayaba, orange, lemon, melon, watermelon, tamarind, and the classical
jamaica (hibiscus) and horchata (made of roasted rice and cinammon).
But if I dare to say, agua de limón (lemon water), would be the queen of them all, and the most classic. The recipe I'm about to share with you has a twist, that makes it full of flavor. All you need is a blender, 2 or 3 lemons, sugar, ice and water. And it goes like this: take the lemons, wash them, cut them in half, or in 4, and throw them in the blender with just a little bit of water.
Next, pass this mix IMMEDIATELY through a colander. This is the key step. In order for your "agua de limón" not to turn bitter, you need to :
a). not allow the blender to mix the lemons in the water for too long. About 4 seconds should be enough, just until the pulp is crushed and
b). do not let it sit, but filter it immediately into the jar that you will be using.
Finally add sugar as desired, fill the jar with water, add ice, mix and enjoy. If you like, you can prepare it beforehand and keep in the fridge, since it is better enjoyed ice-cold. And there you go, instant taste of Mexico in less than 15 minutes. If you want more,there is
this book that drew my attention by its title: "Paletas: Authentic Recipes for Mexican Ice Pops,shaved Ice & Aguas Frescas", by Fany Gerson. And how could I not fall for it when it starts like this:
"The first frozen treats in Mexico were made with snow collected at the top of the Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes. At first the snow was carried down and used to refrigerate things like medicine and food, but later people realized they could pair the snow with sweet fruits to make luxurious frozen treats. "
Jaja genial el agua de tooooodos los días en mi casa, bueno de mi mamá...
ReplyDeleteOoh, that looks tasty!
ReplyDeleteI'll bookmark this one and make it when it gets warmer. Then again, the one with toasted rice and cinnamon sounds like it would work great in cold weather as well, so maybe I can even give it a spin this winter.
This looks tasty! Around here we do the classic lemonade by squeezing lemons and adding water, ice and sugar (sometimes we add slices or lemon peel to make it more lemony).
ReplyDeleteI'll have to try this, I love lemon!
@ Zarawitta, si, era el pan de todos los dias, esta era mi favorita junto con la de naranja, ahi como extraño la cocina de casa, todo el cariño en pasarte media mañana en la cocina.
ReplyDelete@thesmittenimmigran, you should definitely try it, it is better han it looks like. And the rice horchata (mexican version), since there are different versions of horchata or orgeat (made with almond, or tigernuts) is delicious, maybe I will post a recipe soon. But in the meantime here is the interpretation by David Lebowitz (the great, shall I say):
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/06/horchata-recipe-mexican-rice-drink/
@ Ines, yeah, there is also the lemon squeezed version in Mexico but this one really adds to the flavor. And if you like lemon you will absolutely love this one.
Qué rico!!!!!! La guardo para el verano, porque me parece que me va a encantar!
ReplyDeletemmm paletas! The Cowboy has still never been to Mexico (I know, I know, we will fix this soon) and I keep telling him that 50% of the time we are there we'll be hanging out with family but 90% of the time we're there we will be eating. YUM
ReplyDelete@ Marcela, si , definitivamente la tienes que probar.
ReplyDelete@ Zan, yeah, you have to fix that. I think from the US you can find quite some cheap flights in low season or if you are up discovering more than one airport in transit . And I know, whenever 2 mexicans meet abroad they start talking about food. I hope he will like the mexican food, you can slowly introduce him to it. And by the way reading to the intro of the book, I realized it is written by the owner of "La newyorkina" and if I recall correctly, it is the very same girl who made the icepops for APW 's Yay New York, small, small world. So girl, you are close.
http://lanewyorkina.com/Home.html