It’s been hot in Mexico City lately, which means it’s the best time to buy nieves, or street-side ice cream or sorbet. A few days ago I found probably the best nieve I’ve never tasted, from a guy named Benny (that’s him under the hat) who set up on calle Ramón Corona just a short walk from Circunvalación. The street is just west of Mercado La Merced on the way to the Zócalo.
Benny’s helper, a young man, shouted “Hay nieveeees! Dulce de leche, mamey, limón!”
The sun shone high and bright. We wandered over. Benny lifted the aluminum lid and a creamy lagoon of orangey-peach mamey lay there, waiting to be scooped. It was the slightest bit runny, like freshly churned ice cream. My friend Ben and I split one order of dulce de leche and mamey, and I think I might’ve moaned on the sidewalk.
Benny says he makes the ice creams himself using fresh fruit and ingredients. He also takes special orders for birthday parties. His minimum is one bote — the size pictured above — which feeds about 300 people.
If you don’t have any weddings or baptisms coming up, you should seek him out for a scoop. He takes his cart along Ramón Corona, Mesónes and Pino Suárez, and he says he works year-round. He doesn’t venture onto the more touristic side of the Zócalo, where street vendors aren’t allowed. Here’s a handy map of where I found him below.
10 Responses to Hay nieves!
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Who is Mija?
Mija is Lesley Téllez, a food writer and culinary guide in New York City. I spent four years in Mexico's Distrito Federal, which launched my deep love for Mexican food and culture. In 2010 I co-founded the tourism company Eat Mexico.
Oh, thank you, thank you for this post. It brought back wonderful memories of my trips to Mexico City, one of my most favorite cities in the world!
The ices and ice creams are so memorable and utterly delicious.
On my next trip to Mexico City, I will “definitely” try to find him!
a MI ME GUSTA DE COCO Y TAMARINDO….
There´s nothing like `las nieves de carrito´ and obviously las nieves del Don de mi colonia are the best. I have to bring you to Cuernavaca for you to try them
My favorite flavors are jamaica and coco.
Heidi: Trip to Cuernavaca. It’s on.
I haven’t tried jamaica but it sounds lovely, especially with all this crazy heat we’ve been having.
This brings back memories of being in the Colonia Constitucion, Zapopan, Guadalajara, Jalisco. It was and I believe still is right around the corner from where Grandma used to live, near the Mercado Bola. I had the best nieve de cereal at that place. Memories, memories. Gracias por abrir el baul de los recuerdos.
You’re very welcome!
Hey! How much did those scoops cost you? I’ll be headed to el D.F. in July, and I’ll definitely need some nieve in my life.
Hi Zach: I spent 20 pesos on a combination scoop of dulce de leche and mamey. This is around what you’d pay at a regular ice cream shop, so it’s not necessarily cheap… but of course it’s totally worth it.
I’ve been enjoying your writings Lesley, especially about the strange fruit, Mamey. In NYC, there are several latin restaurants (mostly Dominican) that sell ‘batida de mamey’ & a market called the Essex Street Market where you can buy the fuzzy brown football shaped mamey sapotes and make it at home. This helado de mamey sounds nummy (yummy). Do you have a recipe for making helado de mamey at home?
Hi Kevin: I’ve been to Essex Street Market, lots of great stuff there. I don’t have a recipe for mamey ice cream, but I do have one for mamey frozen yogurt. I’ve been in the mood for ice cream lately, but my freezer has decided it doesn’t want to freeze things very well. I may truck my ice cream-maker to a friend’s house in the next few weeks.