LCBO Food & Drink Summer 2016

TREND SPOTT ING

PALETAS

What ice cream shops are to Canada, paleterías are to Mexico—purveyors of frozen treats in countless flavours and colours to satisfy kids and adults alike. Mexico’s paletas are more than just your standard ice pops, says Fany Gerson, author of the cookbook Paletas (Ten Speed Press, 2011) and owner of La Newyorkina, a Mexican ice and sweet shop in New York City. Divided into water- and dairy- based categories, they showcase the country’s rich diversity of fresh, colourful produce and its cuisine’s love of sweet, salty, sour and spicy fla- vours that coexist beautifully in combinations like avocado-lime and pineapple-chili, often featuring chunks of fruit, coconut or other ingredients to add texture. “They’re made with real ingredients,” Gerson adds, “and they’re very playful and fun.”

TIPS FOR SUCCESS In her book, Gerson shares some tips for making your own paletas: ➤ Sugar content can be adjusted to taste, but keep in mind that food tastes less sweet when it’s cold. Then again, pops won’t freeze if they contain too much sugar. ➤ A little alcohol turns paletas into fla- vourful frozen cocktails, but too much will prevent them from freezing, so stick with recipe proportions. ➤ Depending on your mould, sticks might want to float instead of resting securely in your paletas. To combat this, let them freeze until slushy before insert- ing sticks and returning to the freezer. ➤ Ice pops come easily out of some moulds and not so easily out of others. In some cases, a warm hand is sufficient; if not, try running the bases under the tap or dipping them in warm water. ➤ For ease of storage and serving, remove all paletas from your moulds at once, wrap each in waxed paper (or insert in a small freezer bag) and return to the freezer.

Just about any freezer-safe vessel can be used as a paleta mould, so long as the opening is the same width as or wider than the bottom and it’s a size that will be enjoyable to eat—think shot glasses or disposable cups. Or purchase specialized equipment like these moulds: ➤ Make 10 paletas at a time in the classic rectangular shape (shown), amazon.ca ➤ A stainless steel option that’s easy to stack in the freezer, amazon.ca ➤ Mini pops for smaller serving sizes in easy-to-release silicone, iqliving.com TOOLS OF THE TRADE [ WHAT TO USE ]

FOOD & DRI NK SUMMER