I’m not ready to say goodbye to summer, yet; we’ve barely said hello. Sitting in a courtyard shivering on a Friday night, turning off the aircon and putting on jeans instead of shorts, and sitting here typing away with a warm mug of peppermint tea and my favorite sweater, sigh… can summer really be coming to an end? I went to the beach a grand total of once, and spent the majority of my days filling my brain and cue cards with pathology and biochem factoids. Not much of a summer, so you can understand that I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet. Something I’ve wanted to do all summer, but somehow haven’t gotten around to yet, was to make Aguas Fresca. There’s no time like the present, so today will be the day.
Aguas Frescas, or literally “fresh cold waters” in Spanish, are simple, flavorful, and refreshing. The drink consists of a combination of fresh fruits, grains, seeds (like chia), and flowers infused and blended into water with a dash of sugar over ice. Amazing! Whoever invited this drink is a genius in my books.
Originating in Mexico, the popularity of this drink has spread to Central America, the United States, and the Caribbean. You can find aguas frescas at Mexican street vendor booths (as well as at booths in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, and even Boston), most Mexican restaurants, and ready-made versions can found in supermarkets as well as in dried mix powder form.
The beauty of aguas frescas is that you can make them with any type of fruit, flowers, seeds and grains that you fancy at the moment, and a thirst quenching, not overly sweet, and healthy drink appears. A few of the most popular flavors down south include agua de horchata made with rice and cinnamon, and agua de tamarindo which is made using tamarind pods. Any juicy fruit, such as watermelon, mangos, pineapple, or berries, make a absolutely wonderful basis for agua fresca. This simple recipe below uses fresh strawberries. Try any fruit, or even mixing a few together… and be sure to let us know at Food Trotter how your concoction turns out!
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the rain will vanish and the sun with come back out to play again soon. If not, I’ll be the one barefoot in a sundress sipping on my agua fresca in the rain.
Wonderful Watermelon Aguas Frescas
Ingredients (Serves 2):
- 2 cups of watermelon cut in cubes
- 2 cups of filtered cold water
- 2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 6 cubes of ice
Method:
- In a blender, add together all ingredients. Let that engine roar and blend away!
- Grab a sieve or piece of cheesecloth and strain mixture into a pitcher.
- You can discard the solids or if you prefer some of the pulp, gently press a metal spoon against your stainer to push some through.
- Serve in ice-filled glasses!
- Garnish with fresh fruit. ¡Salud!
[Photo courtesy of: BigEvil600]
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