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Mexican on Jefferson: Paleteria La Mexicana
Posted on Tuesday, July 17 @ 20:22:05 PDT
Topic: Mexican
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Paletas, for those who may not have encountered them (at least not under that name), are water- or milk/cream-based frozen desserts on sticks. Paleteria la Mexicana is one of the largest producers of paletas in Dallas. On to the food...
Paleteria la Mexicana, 517 E. Jefferson Blvd.
Paleteria la Mexicana's facility on Jefferson is primarily a commissary. Outside in the parking lot and inside the open bay within the building, you're likely to find a number of ice cream trucks, hand-carts, and bicycle carts loading up on paletas to sell to kids all over Dallas.
Walking through the bay and turning left takes you to the paletas. Unlike most paleterias, which will have one or two freezers with an assortment of flavors, Paleteria la Mexicana has a room with over twenty freezers, each with two or three flavors.
Hand-painted posters hang over the freezers, depicting and bilingually describing the flavors. Though most of the customers are hawkers who're buying paletas by the case, Paleteria la Mexicana will sell you a single paleta, if that's all you want, for seventy five cents. The gentleman who's usually at the register speaks excellent English, so don't let monolinguality stop you.
It's not uncommon for chocolate paletas to have the profile of Mexican chocolates, which often include ground almonds, cinnamon, a lot of sugar and vanilla flavoring (usually artificial). That was the case with this one, which had strong vanilla and cinnamon flavor behind the mild, sweet chocolate (which sort of reminded me of Nestlé's Abuelita). Not a great flavor, but okay. I was a little bothered by the icy texture. Just as I prefer ice cream to ice milk, I like a richer, smoother mouthfeel in a dairy-based paleta (especially when chocolate is involved). While I liked the flavor of this paleta more than that of the one from "La Original Michoacana" (described in the Tienda OK report), the texture wasn't as good. (Speaking of "La Original Michocana," check out this Austin Chronicle article on the Michoacán/paletas connection.)
The strawberry paleta appealed to me more. Though the strawberry flavor wasn't intense, it was clean and natural. Mexican paletas--unlike their American ice pop counterparts--usually avoid artificial flavors. Fruit juice, pulp, and even larger pieces are found in most fruit paletas. (To see what I mean by "larger pieces," check out this photo of a strawberries & cream paleta from La Paletera, a Texas-based chain with several locations around DFW.) Though there weren't any big chunks of strawberry in this one, there was a nice distribution of strawberry pulp. It had a similar iciness, but I didn't mind that as much in the strawberry. A nice dessert, especially for seventy five cents.
The water-based paletas, such as this one with pineapple, were very enjoyable. Without any dairy component, the flavor of the fruit steps forward. As with the strawberry, fruit pulp appeared in every bite. Not too sweet. Very refreshing.
Paleteria la Mexicana has become a regular stop, as I work my way up and down Jefferson. There's a parking lot right in front, so it's quick and easy to pop in. The full array of flavors is always available. And there aren't many places in Dallas where you can get a naturally flavored frozen dessert for under a buck.
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