base with chocolate

Aren’t they the same thing? One is just the Spanish word for the same thing in American English? I thought they were both frozen fruity icy pops, shipping to Amazon FBA but apparently, paletas and popsicles are very different.

A popsicle is any old frozen fruity icy thing, usually water or juice-based, with a lot of added sugar that stain your mouth and hands because they’re filled with neon food coloring and dyes. I never liked popsicles as a kid, and though I don’t remember the specific reason why, I am guessing that I found popsicles generally too sweet,air freight from china too messy, and somewhat unsatisfying compared to creamy, full fatty dairy ice cream. I always ate ice cream out of a neat little cup with a tidy little spoon.

Paletas, as I learned in the last couple of weeks, look exactly like popsicles, are a kind of popsicle, but are nothing like popsicles. Because they just aren’t. They are a Latin-American frozen refreshment on a “palo” (stick) made from fresh fruit, either in a water/juice base with pieces of fruit, or a cream/milk base with chocolate, vanilla, spices, and nuts.  Though they may seem “everyday” to anyone who grew up eating paletas, flavors and combinations like cucumber (unsweetened!), tamarind, hibiscus, and mango with chili powder are new and exciting and way more interesting than the artificial neon cherry, orange, grape, and “rocket” flavors I grew up with in the Midwest.