Ice pops for a cool, refreshing treat

Ice pops for a refreshing, trendy treat

When the temperature soars, we crave something cool to beat the heat — and every culture has its own take, whether it’s Italian gelato, Japanese mochi or the California ice pops that evoke carefree childhood summers. (Turns out Popsicles actually originated in Oakland, Calif. Who knew?)

But colorful ice pops of another sort have begun popping up across the Bay Area, for example — and they’re only new to us. In Mexico, icy, creamy paletas have been sold from street carts and paleterias for generations. Legend has it that the frozen fruit pops date back to the Aztec emperors — perhaps. Evidence is scant. But we do know that the first major paleterias sprang up in the town of Tocumbo in Michoacan and then in Mexticacán in Jalisco, where paleta statues and festivals in each town elevate the ice pop to cultural icon.

Paletas — the name comes from the Spanish word palo, which means stick or shovel — come in a rainbow of colors and flavors, from sweet and fruity to spicy and tangy. Paletas de agua are water or juice-based; paletas de crema are more like ice cream. And both varieties are studded with everything from fresh fruit chunks to spices, chiles, candy and even cookies, in combinations such as mango and chile peppers or tart tamarind and jicama.

At the new Luna Mexican Kitchen in San José, Calif., restaurant co-owner Jo Lerma-Lopez and chef Julio Juarez blend up icy paleta combinations made with organic ingredients. You can try a creamy tamarind version, a jicama-raspberry riff or a spicy mangonada, which combines mango and pineapple with a housemade chamoy sauce, made with pasilla chiles that bring the heat. Or go boozy with an adults-only paleta made with watermelon and smoky mezcal to balance the sweetness.

“Paletas are something new, something different” for Californians, says Juarez, who grew up in Morelia, Mexico, and fondly recalls icy treats flavored with pineapple, mango, sweet arroz con leche and tamarind. His uncle still owns a paleteria in the Michoacan state.

“Paletas are just fun,” Lerma-Lopez says, “and the flavor possibilities are endless.”

At San Francisco’s Nopalito, chef Gonzalo Guzman dabbles in paleta creativity as well, with a cafe con leche version, as well as a mango con chile. And now you can make them at home, too, thanks to his new cookbook, “Nopalito: A Mexican Kitchen” (Ten Speed Press, 256 pages, $30), which includes five paleta recipes.

All you need is an ice pop mold and some sticks.

GARY REYES — BAY AREA NEWS GROUP Fruity paletas are photographed at the Luna Mexican Kitchen in San Jose, California. From left, clockwise is tamarindo, jicama raspberry, jicama raspberry mezcal, and mangonada.

DAN HONDA — BAY AREA NEWS GROUP Strawberry, creamy almond and blackberry chocolate paletas.

GARY REYES — BAY AREA NEWS GROUP Jo Lerma-Lopez, coowner of San Jose’s Luna Mexican Kitchen, offers adults-only ice pops — mezcal watermelon paletas — as well as kid-friendly versions.