Aguas Gaseosas: Agua de Uva | Grape Fizz

Growing up, I loved spending my summers in Mexico with my grandmother.  She owned a miscelanea (convenience store) that sold everything you could possibly need and not need.  Embroidery kits, laundry detergent, earrings, rice, all types of ointments and miracle elixirs, chips and chamoys (spicy tamarind candy)

We ran the store in a very organized fashion. Since it was located in the front area of my grandmother’s house, my job was to wake up at the crack of dawn every day and open the door for the bread man. I had to double and triple check the bread order and make sure the correct quantity of bolillos, campechanas, marranitos, conchas, cuernitos and churros were delivered. If the coffee was ready, the delivery man would turn his back and throw in a few extras, as long as we sent him away with a freshly brewed cup.

Saturdays, we had hamburgesadas and I was in charge of making sure the condiments were stocked and napkins were neatly arranged in their napkin holders.

Fridays were my favorite.  They were dedicated entirely to aguas frescas,  aguas gaseosas (fizzy drinks) and gallinitas (little hens: or home made bolis, similar to frozen juice sticks). Since gallinitas were home made, we would pour the prepared aguas frescas into the bag, knot them shut, and freeze them as they took on the shape of a small fat hen.

To eat it,  you’d bite off a piece of  a bottom corner of the plastic bag and eat your way through it until the frozen drink was all gone.  All you had left over was chewed up plastic bag.  My favorite flavor was dulce de leche.

 

If you ordered aguas frescas you had the option to make it fizzy.  They were very simple to make:  We’d pour the agua fresca into a plastic bag (same bags we used to make gallinitas), add a little club soda, finish it off with a straw and hand the customer the bagged drink.  My favorite flavor was grape.

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