Spicy Guava Chan

A generous harvest from my mom's garden, recipe testing on the fly, plus our next SalviSoul Book Club pick and upcoming workshops.

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I am firmly of the mind that as long as a drink has chia seeds, it’s fresco de chan. It’s just a different variety.

In El Salvador, fresco de chan is most famous for it’s pink or red hue and it is made with lots of chia seeds called chan. (I have been told many times that chai and chan are actually different versions of the same species.) When I first started digging into the history of the beverage, I learned that it was a huge after-school drink for kids. Traditionally, moms would make it using Fresquitop—think of it as a Salvadoran Kool-Aid—specifically the strawberry flavor. Moms looking for a healthier, more natural version would opt for jamaica, or hibiscus flowers to keep that vibrant color.

This is why I have always made mine with fresh strawberries. We get such incredible strawberries at the farmer’s market in L.A.. Fun fact: I actually included my strawberry version in The SalviSoul Cookbook, but it got cut in the last round of edits. (If you want that recipe, let me know!)

Recently, I was over at my parent’s house, and my mom refused to let me leave until I had a basket overflowing with fresh guavas and lemons. She has such an impressive green thumb and everything she plants flourishes and thrives so when we went out with the basket, it was easy to fill it up.

Once I was back in my apartment, I knew, “I can’t eat all of these guavas.” So in an effort not to let them go to waste, I challenged myself to a recipe developing exercise. How many recipes could I make in one afternoon? The answer is, three! Here is the first one: Spicy Guava Chan.

A spicy fresco de chan con guayaba, or what I’m calling, Spicy Guava Chan. I wanted to borrow from the fun, and fruity spirit of a traditional fresco de chan, but amp up the flavor by adding a pepper component. I find that guava plays nice with other flavors in the kitchen, it’s subtle, tangy, sweet but it also carries an earthiness, and dare I say a delicious funk. I followed my instincts, and landed on a fiery, and yet refreshing beverage with the perfect level of heat.

This recipe is #1, the other two guava creations are coming soon!

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Relajo Updates

The SalviSoul Book Club

Our next pick is officially locked in! I will be announcing the title next week, with a fun new tweak to how we do book club this time around. Keep an eye out!

Hijole y Cafe Writing Workshops

I am opening up registration for the Fall Hijole y Café writing workshops very soon. If you’re interested and want to grab your spot before they open up to the public, here is the waiting list.

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Spicy Guava Chan recipe is below this line for paid subscribers.