Why do you need raspados in your life?

Raspados are shaved ice with sweet fruit syrups found in all of Mexico. These are found in other countries as well but under different names – piraguas, granizados, raspadinha and Hawaiian shaved ice. They all begin by shaving blocks of ice and then pouring a sweet fruit syrup on top. They are incredibly refreshing, easy to make, simple to personalize, and can even be a healthy snack or a boozy cocktail.

Raspados are different than Italian frappes which are ice cubes blended with sweet syrups, and Spanish granizado or Italian granita which are frozen sweet syrups, removed from the freezer then blended. But all of these have their roots in Japan and India, the inventors of ices mixed with sweet syrups. 

On my California farm we always have sweet syrups on hand, Mexicans call the sweet syrups almíbares. The most popular are milk, guava, jamaica (hibiscus), tamarind and pineapple.  In Mexico, raspados they can be topped with fresh fruit, candied fruit, dried fruit, vegetables, chilis, caramel and ice cream … yes, all on the same raspado! 

I grew up enjoying raspados made with real fruit instead of thinned out artificially flavored syrups which I see used in piraguas (Puerto Rico) and shaved ices (USA).  Instead of a sweet blue watery syrup, I had my raspados with chunks of sweet guava, pineapple or tamarind. The syrups used to top the shaved ice common in Mexico and in my house are more akin to fruit preserves rather than colored sugar water.

I officially announce that after tasting flavored ices in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Guatemala, Belize, Panama, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Italy, and the USA – Mexico wins. By a long shot. And here are the reasons why. Mexico always shaves the ice – in order to get this consistency of thin ice that quickly melts in your mouth, it has to be shaved off with a blade. There are different way to do this which I will share below. It cannot start as ice cubes that are blended or syrup poured over tiny ice cubes which I have seen in other countries. Secondly, the syrups have to start with a mixture of real fruit, nuts, spices and sugar. And these have to be the dominant flavors. I should not be blue colored flavor, red flavor, and so on. When you see the raspado seller in Mexico, most of his syrups have fresh fruit or nuts in them. Please see image below as proof.

I found this person in Oaxaca City – note every syrup has fruit or nuts. Starting on the right, nance, pecans with sweet milk, shredded coconut with coconut milk, strawberries with milk, strawberries in water, pineapple. And at the very end, in the plastic bottles, is Chamoy – a sweet, sour, spicy sauce that is optional as a final topping on your raspado. 

Raspado shops have become so popular in Mexico that you can find them plentiful in California, mostly in Los Angeles.  

You can consider California as little Mexico, whatever you find in Mexico you can find in California. The image below is part of a menu at a raspados store. When you bump into one of these shops you will see hundreds of menu possibilities with fun names like chamango, diablito, mangoneada, chamarindo, etc. This image is from Maxi Raspados in Visalia, California. I had the mango chili raspado with mango chunks, cucumbers, and jicama. A salad!

In New York you can find shaved ice at the Long Island City flea market. City Riders NYC uses a bicycle to power the ice machine which is fun to watch and mind blowing for children. I tried their tamarind; it was very refreshing and yummy, although more in the style of American snow cones – the syrup has som tamarind flavor but was very watered down.

You can also find People’s Pops all over New York; I only visit them at the Brooklyn Smorgasburg on a hot day. Although their specialty is popsicles they crank out the shaved ice for the summer. Their flavored syrups are fresh, fun and local; you are more likely to see a very light lemon mint syrup instead of a heavy guava or mango preserve. 

But Fany Gerson of La Newyorkina has moved into New York City and is dominating the scene with her Mexican sweets and snacks so if you need a raspado please look for her. 

In Guatemala they are called granizados. Their toppings consists of real fruit chunks and an additional splash of flavored syrup and sweetened condensed milk. I really wanted to take one of these machines home but my luggage was already full of chocolate. 

The secret weapon is to own a raspador. You can buy one anywhere in Mexico or Los Angeles or you can order online for about $15 usd, it is the most basic model.

You can find the blocks of ice at your local grocery store; I am not sure what they are used for other than making raspados. You can also make your own block of ice if you have the space in the freezer. It is not the same to blend ice in a blender. The consistency is not appropriate. It has to be SHAVED or RASPED… hence the names shaved ice and raspados.

This machine below I found in Cobán, Guatemala.

This one below I found in Guayaquil, Ecuador. This style of machine seems to have it’s origin in Japan.

On the farm we only use the hand held raspador.

For a recipe on the topping please visit my tomatillo sweet syrup post here.

Or my tamarind syrup recipe here.