Aaachilata, water ice!: the best dessert to cope with the Tucuman heat!

The temperature slowly rises and our mouths water for the most Tucumán dessert that quenches our thirst and fills us with the sweetest flavor: achilata.

This ice water is a symbol of the multiculturalism of our country, which during the 19th and 20th centuries received large waves of immigrants from the most diverse countries, especially from Italy, something that can be felt just by hearing the most typical surnames and perceiving our customs, such as the cuisine. This is the case of achilata (a kind of ice water).

It turns out that the name of this delicacy identified by its vibrant fuchsia color and slushy texture that melts in the mouth comes from the phonetics of the phrase “hay gelata” or “hay yelata”, which was pronounced day after day by street vendors who walked the streets of old Tucumán. This distortion soon led to its current name "achilata", so in Tucuman, it is part of the list of flavors of any ice cream shop today.

The recipe for this ice cream is so easy: it consists of crushed ice mixed with red or fuchsia food coloring made from fruit juices and sweeteners or cane sugar. Its flavor is similar to strawberry or tutti frutti, a taste that stays on our palate for a long time. Whether in a plastic cup or its premium version in a cookie cone, it is ideal to take “on the go.”

Current customs, added to the need to remake this classic, are what encouraged new ways of consuming this delicacy at night and in a festive context, mixed with some spirits, giving rise to new and powerful “signature drinks” such as Achivodka (achilata and vodka) or Ronchilata (achilata and ron).

“Aaachilata, ice water!”, that simple and magical phrase, is a pleasure for our ears in the hot mornings and afternoons in Tucumán. A popular dessert par excellence, it is already the heritage, of all the people of Tucumán.