“When temperatures soar in the Coachella Valley, Indio resident Misael Torres drops by his favorite local raspaderia, Raspados Esmeralda, for a chocolate shaved ice. For Torres, the treat does more than counter the desert’s July heat — it’s a way for him to recall his childhood. “When I was little, I’d only have, like, 5 pesos,” Torres recalls. “And I’d run and get a raspado.”
Many folks who grew up immersed in Mexican culture share the memory of spending summers sticky with raspado syrup. Mexico’s take on the snow cone gets its name from the Spanish word raspar, meaning “to scrape,” referring to the early method of hand-scraping ice. In the Coachella Valley, children enjoy the delicacies from family-owned shops, which each serve their own variations on the refreshing snack…”
