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Mexican Lifestyles Food & Dining Delicious Fresh Fruit 'aguas Frescas'
Mexican Lifestyles Food & Dining Delicious Fresh Fruit 'aguas Frescas' | Delicious Fresh Fruit 'aguas Frescas' |
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| Written by Barbara Hess | |
| Saturday, 23 September 2000 | |
 '' - Photo By CR File Photo sometimes dried, sources. Horchata (rice), tamarindo, jamaica, limon, and mixed fruit are nearly always available at the take-out stands, and other flavors pop up from time to time. But you can make your own agua fresca at home with little effort, and September is the time for two of the very best -- guayaba and ciruela. Guayaba agua fresca (90 fl. oz.) Guayabas are about golf-ball size or better, look like slightly lumpy crab-apples with a dull finish, and taste a little like ripe Anjou pears. The September variety are dark yellow when ripe, but need to be giving off a full fruity aroma and showing brownish splotches for the best flavor. (There is a small, dark red variety but they are ready earlier in the summer.) I always soak them in disinfecting solution after washing, since they will be used unpeeled. Guayabas contain harmless seeds and Mexicans usually swallow them unconcernedly in their agua fresca. I find this texture distracting and unwanted, so I have added the step of straining the fruit puree through a sieve. INGREDIENTS: 15 yellow guayabas 1 -2 fresh limes 1/2 cups sugar bottled water METHOD: Wash and soak guayabas. Cut "star" end off, remove any blemishes, and slice in halves. (Fruit should be pinkish-peach colored inside.) Put in blender with small amount of bottled water and blend until completely smooth. Put through a strainer to remove seeds, pressing all pulp through. Squeeze 1 -2 limes (to taste) and blend juice well with guayaba pulp. Put 1 cup bottled water in 90 oz. container, add sugar and stir to dissolve. Add guayaba-lime mix, and top up with bottled water to fill. Stir well to be sure sugar is dissolved and let stand a minimum of four hours for flavor to develop. Then enjoy this refreshing, fruity drink reminiscent of pears with a little something added! Ciruela agua fresca (90 fl. oz.) Ciruelas (translates as "plum" but you've never seen a plum like this fruit!) ripen in September - October. The trees are huge, spreading things with rough silvery-grey bark and compound leaves (lots of little leaflets on one stem). The fruit are blocky, stubby little guys about 2 inches long and 1 1/2 inches across, slight rounded at each end, and resembling miniature misshapen avocados. On the trees they are a bright shiny green, similar to avocados until they start to ripen, when they change to yellow-orange and then orangey-red. There is only a 1/4-inch layer of mango-colored flesh between the distasteful skin and the huge pit, so while ciruelas can be eaten out-of hand it is a frustrating process. For this reason I use them exclusively in one of the most delicious "aguas frescas" I have ever tasted. It is kind of messy to prepare, but well worth it! INGREDIENTS: 16 ripe ciruelas generous 1/3 cup sugar (rounded) juice of 1 - 2 limes bottled water METHOD: Wash ciruelas and soak in disinfectant solution. Wash your hands well. Put some bottled water in a glass bowl and squish the flesh out of the ciruelas into the water in the bowl, submerging your hand into the water and squeezing all the flesh from the skin and pit. Be sure to remove all bits of skin as you will be drinking this "agua." When all fruit are cleaned of flesh, add lime juice, put mixture into blender, and liquefy. Put 1 cup bottled water into 90 oz. container, add sugar, and stir to dissolve. Add fruit mixture and top off with bottled water, stirring well. Chill at least four hours before serving. Delicious! (Note: Ciruelas can be picked green and put in a dark place between layers of newspaper, and they will ripen in a few days. Check often as they spoil quickly once ready to use.) |
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