Salvadoran Fresco de Ensalada: Chopped Fruit Cooler with Lime and Mint

Dice all the fruit as finely and evenly as you can, ideally into quarter-inch pieces small enough to sip through a wide straw. This texture is the whole point of the drink.

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 crisp apples, cored and finely diced
• 2 cups fresh pineapple, finely diced
• 1 cup mango, finely diced
• 1 bunch watercress or 1 cup finely chopped lettuce
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
• Juice of 4 limes
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, or to taste
• 8 cups cold water
• 1 tablespoon orange blossom water (optional)
• Plenty of ice, to serve

Instructions

1. Dice all the fruit as finely and evenly as you can, ideally into quarter-inch pieces small enough to sip through a wide straw. This texture is the whole point of the drink.
2. Rinse the watercress well, strip the leaves from the thickest stems and chop them finely along with the mint.
3. In a large pitcher, dissolve the sugar in the lime juice, stirring until no grains remain at the bottom.
4. Add the diced fruit to the pitcher and stir to coat it in the sweetened lime, which keeps the apple from browning.
5. Pour in the cold water, add the orange blossom water if using, and stir well.
6. Fold in the chopped watercress and mint, then taste and adjust the sugar and lime — it should land squarely between tart and sweet.
7. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour so the fruit softens slightly and its juices bleed into the water, turning it pale gold.
8. Stir from the bottom, pour over plenty of ice and serve with a spoon in the glass to catch the fruit at the end.
9. Fresco de ensalada is El Salvador's most cheerfully literal drink: ensalada means salad, and it really is a chopped fruit salad suspended in sweet-tart limeade, greens and all. It is sold in bags from street carts at festivals and church fairs, and eaten as much as it is drunk. The watercress sounds strange to newcomers but supplies a peppery green note that keeps eight cups of fruit from ever tasting like syrup.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 110 kcal
• Protein: 1g
• Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 28g
• Fiber: 3g
• Sugar: 24g
• Sodium: 15mg