How to make homemade agua fresca
Peachy hues, hibiscus pinks and the creamy white of almonds — the colorful agua fresca pitchers lining counters at taquerias everywhere provide delicious proof that fiesta spreads can go zero-proof in style. Made from fresh fruit, water and a little sugar — and occasionally nuts or grains — these “fresh waters” are sweet and refreshing, especially when served over ice. And horchata, their milky, rice-based cousin, is especially cooling if the salsa on those tacos is incendiary.
Whether you're a horchata fan or a cooler devotee, Ericka Sanchez's cookbook, “Aguas Frescas and Paletas: Refreshing Mexican Drinks and Frozen Treats, Traditional and Reimagined” (Familius, $20) offers 40 riffs on the fruity drinks and frozen pops she grew up with in Mexico.
The Los Angeles-based recipe developer, food stylist and Nibbles and Feasts blogger published two books last year. “Buen Provecho!: Traditional Mexican
Flavors from My Cocina to Yours” (Familius, $30) leans savory with salsas and appetizers, salads, meatless entrees and more.
“Aguas Frescas and Paletas” goes straight-up sweet, from the recipes to the endearing stories of Sanchez's childhood vacations visiting her grandmother in Torreón, Mexico, and those long summer evenings sipping cantaloupe coolers at the outdoor market downtown.
Aguas frescas and paletas are two halves of the same coin, Sanchez says. Poured over ice, they're drinks. Frozen, they're colorful ice pops.
So the cookbook may be divided into two categories, but you have Sanchez's permission to freeze your favorite melon agua fresca — or that new wave pineapple, cucumber and basil cooler — in an ice pop mold to enjoy when the temperatures soar.