Fruit Gazpacho
Celebrations are a big part of Mexican culture, from baptisms, quinceañeras, birthdays, graduations, or our soccer’s team the last win, we use anything as an excuse to get together with friends and family. Food is obviously a big part of these celebrations, and the customs of the local region play a big part in what will be served at the table. Growing up in the northeastern part of Mexico, the food at children’s birthday parties were ham and cheese sandwiches, cake, and candy bags for the kids to take home. The piñata was (and still is) also one of the main events at birthday parties, to the point that some people still refer to a child’s birthday party as a “Piñata”, like in: “we’re going to a Piñata today”, instead of a birthday party.
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Over time, the food changed to Chicken salad, cold macaroni salad with cream and ham, cake, and the candy bag. Nowadays, however, birthday parties are a huge production, and some parents start planning months in advance, booking the place for the big day, and selecting a theme for the party. If the party is a boy or girl, superheroes and cartoon characters are some of the main choices. Then comes the menu planning. Sometimes there are 2 menus, one for children and other for grown-ups. Children menus usually have hot dogs, mini pizza, and small sandwiches (similar to mini sliders filled with ham and cheese), plus a snack bar that will consist of candies, potatoes chips, peanuts, and all kinds of sweet and salty treats, along with fruit cocktails or salads.
The most famous fruit cocktail is called “Gazpacho”, from the city of Morelia, in the State of Michoacán, where it is also sold as a street food. Their Gazpacho is made with pineapple and mango marinated in orange juice and topped with cheese, onion, and other hot seasonings. This cocktail is now known all over the country, and different cities have their own version. The recipe below is for the cocktail the way it’s prepared in my hometown of Tampico, Tamaulipas.
It has been slightly adapted since some of the main seasonings are not available everywhere outside Mexico, as is the case with the “Chamoy” sauce and the sweet, salty, and spicy powder known as “Miguelito” in Mexico. These two seasonings are used to flavor fruits and snacks for kids and grown-ups alike.
I am so happy to make this recipe with the help of McCormick Spices.
For McCormick, one of this year’s trends is Mexican World Tour: from a growing taste for regional Mexican fare in North America to early exploration in China, cultures across the world are embracing authentic elements of this bright, bold and casual cuisine.
Fruit Gazpacho with Homemade Chamoy Sauce
DIRECTIONS:
Fruit Gazpacho
- Mix the pineapple, cucumber, mango, and jicama in a large bowl with the orange juice. Cover and place in the fridge to cool while you prepare the Chamoy Sauce and spicy seasoning powder. (Please check the ingredients list below)
Chamoy Sauce:
- In a small glass bowl, mix the apricot jam, lime juice, McCormick Red Crush Pepper, McCormick Ancho Chile Pepper, and salt. Set aside while you prepare the next seasoning.
Spicy Sweet and Salty Powder:
- Mix sugar, McCormick Hot Mexican Style Chile Powder, and salt. If using food coloring, add the drops after mixing the dry ingredients. Mix well and let it air dry for about 10 minutes.
Final step. Divide the fruit into cups with some of the orange juice. Pour some of the Chamoy Sauce and sprinkle with the Spicy Sweet and Salty Powder. Enjoy!
- 1 cup of pineapple diced.
- 1 cup cucumber diced
- 1 cup mango diced
- 1 cup jicama diced
- 1 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/2 cup apricot jam
- 2 Tablespoon fresh squeeze lime juice
- 1 teaspoon McCormick Red Crush Pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon McCormick Ancho Chile Pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of Hot Mexican-Style Chili Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 4 drops McCormick Red food Coloring Optional**
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Mix the pineapple, cucumber, mango, and jicama in a large bowl with the orange juice. Cover and place in the fridge to cool while you prepare the Chamoy Sauce and spicy seasoning powder.
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In a small glass bowl, mix the apricot jam, lime juice, McCormick Red Crush Pepper, McCormick Ancho Chile Pepper, and salt. Set aside while you prepare the next seasoning.
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Mix sugar, McCormick Hot Mexican Style Chile Powder, and salt. If using food coloring, add the drops after mixing the dry ingredients. Mix well and let it air dry for about 10 minutes.
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Final step. Divide the fruit into cups with some of the orange juice. Pour some of the Chamoy Sauce and sprinkle with the Spicy Sweet and Salty Powder. Enjoy!
• 1 cup of pineapple is about 1/4 of a regular size pineapple, 1 cup of cucumber compares to a medium sized cucumber, 1 cup of mango equals one mango, and 1 cup of jicama is about 1/2 of a medium sized jicama. I’m giving you this information to help you when buying the fruit.
• * The recipe for this Chamoy sauce is really delicious, and my son even loves it with chicken wings. If you’re someone that enjoys these types of flavors, I recommend that you double or quadruple the amount to have it handy in your fridge.
• **This seasoning powder is usually red in color when sold in small packages, you can choose not to use the food coloring, since the flavors of this recipe will not be affected if you do not use the food coloring.
Buen Provecho!
Mely,
More recipes:
Sautéed Mushrooms
Green Pozole Soup Guerrero Style
I can't live without garlic powder, pepper, and paprika. #flavorstory marthamoreno35@gmail.com
One thing we commonly make is home fries, but we cook up bacon first and use that grease for the potatoes. Then we add a random assortment of spices, from salt and pepper, to garlic and oregano. Then we chop up the bacon and mix it all together. It probably takes a year off my life every time I make it, but it is worth every bite. #flavorstory
#flavorstory … forgot the hash tag on my comment
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because of the joy of cooking a large meal with family. I look forward to it each year, and love using fresh ingredients like sweet potatoes and green beans. I research lots of recipes to try something new each year. Last year we actually made a ham instead of a turkey and it was delicious. There's always salt, pepper, and garlic powder in my pantry. #flavorstory rebeccaperez305 at yahoo dot com
#flavorstory – is that what I'm supposed to put here for the giveaway! What a nice offer! My very favorite spices/herbs are basil and Italian seasoning. I use several others, of course, but use those the most often – – pizza, spaghetti sauce, in meat dishes. Isn't it interesting how flavors and aromas can evoke memories so easily. Sometimes I'll catch the scent of something and it reminds me of my mother. 🙂 Thank you, Mely. My email is ilovekefir@hotmail.com
#flavorstory… I add smoked paprika to almost everything! Also love McCormick GrillMates Hamburger and Smokehouse Maple… mmm!
I love baking with cardamom! Such a unique fun flavor! #flavorstory
McCormick Vanilla always reminds me of my Grandmother. She was a wonderful baker, and she always had a bottle of McCormick Vanilla on the counter. She always said it was her "special ingredient" to make everything taste fantastic. #flavorstory Thank you for the wonderful giveaway.
Erin
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Living in a multicultural household (I'm Tex-Mex and my husband is Chilean) allows our family to explore a wide variety of flavors from North to South America. Although we may not always agree on our very different taste palates, we can always agree that any combination of #groundcumin and #oregano is absolutely delicious! We are never without either or in our home! Some of our favorite recipes that highlight the marriage of cumin with oregano are savory meat empanadas, calabaza con pollo or a good old-fashioned chicken soup! #flavorstory estapa986@gmail.com
I love to cook with cinnamon and it has been my favorite spice for a long time, but I have only recently discovered how fantastic it is in savory dishes as well as in sweet. #flavorstory
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#flavorstory – I have SO many spices I don't know where to start. But I use a lot of Mexican Seasoning, cayenne pepper and oregano. I like spicy foods, especially Mexican inspired ones.
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Hello Carolsue!
You are the winner of the Tote Bag, Vanilla, Black pepper spice and McCormick cooking book! Congrats!