Remembering the cart bell - Chicha de tamarindo

People tend to associate tamarind with Asia rather than Latin America, but let me tell you – We love tamarindo too.

Tamarindo is, in fact, pretty big in Panama.
As big as the tree it comes from.

And I should know how big a tamarind tree can be, because there was one in the front yard of my primary school and I was put in the naughty corner many-a-time after being caught climbing it to retrieve a few pods for pure enjoyment during our lunch break.
What can I say? As you know by now, I’ve always loved my food and when it comes to fruit I like mine tart, so tamarind and me have always been great friends.

First and foremost I love it as it brings back memories of popsicles.
Popsicles bought from street carts behind my grandmother’s back.

Every day at roughly 4pm I would position myself in her front porch, the picture of an angel doing her homework; in fact I would be concentrating on the background sounds, a quarter of a dollar hidden in my pocket, waiting eagerly for the sound of the bell.

Oh, the bell! Bearer of good news to all.

In the afternoon heat of the capital city hundreds of men would be seen pushing heavy fridge carts filled with popsicles up residential streets, ringing a little bell to announce the arrival of their cargo of refreshing goodness.

I could hear them walking up from the other end of the long road, traffic zooming a mere feet away, people honking (because we’re talking Panama here!)... And, yet, I could still hear the little bell and I prayed that my grandma wouldn’t, otherwise it would have meant close supervision to stop me from running to the gates to buy my treat.

My grandma is one of those people who thinks everything has germs, everything needs to be washed 100 times so forget about eating or drinking anything from a street cart.
Of course the adventurous souls in the family ignore her and I would look forward to those 5 minutes of my afternoons with a great sense of pleasure and mischief.

I’m sure the popsicles came in all sorts of flavours, but I can only remember my 3 favourites... The only ones I needed to get me into trouble if I didn’t eat them quickly enough and out of my nana’s view – Sometimes I would be hiding behind the avocado tree, other times in my great aunt’s Carmen bedroom (I could run into her big wardrobe if we heard my grandma approaching) and others underneath the wide windowsills of the “good” living room.

In order they were: coconut (milky and sugary like only a coconut popsicle can be), tamarind (ok, fine it was a brown cylinder, but it was sweet and tart at the same time and I didn’t care if it looked like poo) and lime (glow-in-the-dark green – One to be had only if grandma was out running errands or the colour of my tongue would have given me away).

Anyway, the whole point of this is that last week I made “chicha de tamarindo” - I kept walking past the tamarind pulp at the back of my corner shop and doing nothing about my growing cravings for the poop-looking stuff until last weekend I caved in and spent £0.79 for 400gr, made my drink, downed it and then realised I could have turned some of it into popsicles.
It was very refreshing nevertheless and kept in glass bottles in the fridge lasted a whole week.

I use “raspadura” (or panela like they call it in the rest of Latin America) to sweeten mine as I love the syrupy touch it gives my drinks, but unless you want to schlep it to the nearest Latin store you can use soft brown sugar.

It can be easily turned into popsicles.

Or a refreshing cocktail with the addition of rum.

Or a boozy popsicle.

Chicha de Tamarindo

400gr tamarind pulp, seeds in (you can also use pulp without seeds – Reduce to 300gr)
2 ½ liters cold water
Panela/brown sugar to taste

Chop up the tamarind block roughly and place in a pan with the water.

Bring to the boil and then let simmer at medium heat for 20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool down slightly (5-10 minutes)

Strain into a jug making sure you press as much juice and pulp as possible from the remaining seeds.

Add grated panela or sugar to taste – I like leaving mine quite tart and then adding extra panela or sugar to my glass depending on my mood.

Let cool for another half an hour, add ice and enjoy!