Ecuadorian dessert: Helados de Paila

Ecuadorian dessert: Helados de Paila

Ecuador is a very diverse country, something that can also be witnessed through its gastronomy. There are plenty of ingredients, fresh fruits, and vegetables available year-round, resulting in a country offering food that will delight every palate.

To get a glimpse of the wide range of fresh fruit that Ecuador offers, you can taste helado de paila, a traditional dessert that is quite refreshing.

We want to share the flavors that are traditional to the different regions of the country.

About helados de paila

I think that a good way to describe an helado de paila is as an Ecuadorian-style sorbet

Rosalía Suarez, created the recipe to the helados de paila 106 years ago in Ibarra. His great-grandson Ernesto discovered the ice creams a day when there had been a lot of hail in the city and, copying the way of preserving ice from the ice makers of Imbabura, she decided to put a paila (bronze pan) on a base of hail, salt, and straw, thus turning and beating the fruit juice on the paila. Paila ice creams, according to her great-grandmother’s original recipe, are made from fresh fruit, an exact amount of water, and sugar, which should not be too much, not too little, but just the right amount. Today they are still made on dry ice and necessarily in a bronze pan; the fruit, water, and sugar are beaten with a wooden spoon while the pan rotates.

What is required: stray, grain salt, a bronze pan, a wooden spoon, and fruit juice are all part of this recipe that keeps delighting the palates of Ecuadorians and foreigners alike.

You can try to make helados de paila at home by following this recipe. 

If you are in South America, I would love to see your pictures.

What do they taste like

Due to the texture that might as well be described as being like an Ecuadorian-style sorbet, with a

refreshing and light flavor, where many are made from some of our exotic Ecuadorian fruits.

How and where to eat helados de paila

Here are some additional sweets to taste while you are in Ibarra 

You can find this dessert for sale in restaurants and cafes in most of the highlands of the country, but specifically in Ibarra if you want to taste the Rosalia Suarez brand.

Make sure to delight your palate with some helado de paila when you visit Ibarra. 

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Have you had helado de paila? Leave your comment below!

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