During these really hot days of summer (I wonder why they're called 'dog days of summer'?) we like nothing better than tall, ice cold glasses of refreshing and thirst quenching 'agua fresca'.
Agua = water
Fresca = fresh
(spelled fresco when used with a 'masculine noun' like queso fresco:
queso = cheese
fresco = fresh
Spanish is funny like that... )
You can make 'agua fresca' from any fruit by just combining with water and a bit of sugar, honey, or sugar cane juice, if needed to sweeten it up a bit... I like using a simple syrup most of the time. Lemon, oranges, or lime, watermelon, passion fruit, guavas, mangoes...even peaches, nectarines...etc...when combined with water and a sweetener is an agua fresca.
One of our favorites is the Pineapple Agua Fresca. The pineapple in this case, serves triple purpose for the price of one.
We buy a pineapple at the farmers market or use one of our own when they become harvestable; peel and cut it up to eat, but I save the top for planting, and the peelings for making the agua fresca.., Win-Win-Win!
Pineapple Aqua Fresca
This is one of our favorites. It is the easiest and most delicious summer cooler, ever. The twist is that you get to eat the pineapple and make “juice” too!
1 medium sized ripe pineapple
8 C water (1/2 gallon)
1/4 C sugar
Mint sprig
Cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple and reserve. Peel the rest of the pineapple, leaving a bit of pulp attached, and reserve. Cut the pineapple in chunks or in long slices from top to bottom, cutting off the core and reserve.
Use the fresh fruit any way you would like. Place the peel, bottom, and core in a non-reactive pot, add the sugar and water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Cool and strain into a pitcher, squeezing as much liquid as possible from the peel pieces and the core. Chill in refrigerator for at least an hour.
Serve over ice and garnish with a sprig of mint.
Yield: 4 tall glasses
Note: Plant the top of the pineapple in the garden and compost the rest of the peel.
