Close-up Look at a Guatemalan Ice Cream Cart

Here’s the scoop and the ice cream, vanilla flavored and once it gets put on the cone they top it with acid-sweet syrup that ice cream men called chirmol. Chirmol is the Guatemalan name for a tomato-based sauce with peppermint, onions and hot chiles; so this is not what they put on the ice cream. They use the word chirmol to mean the colored syrup they use as topping.

6 Responses to "Close-up Look at a Guatemalan Ice Cream Cart"

janna says:

October 4, 2008 at 9:42 am

That’s funny about the chirmol. I would be confused if someone asked if I wanted chirmol on my helado, because I would indeed think of the tomato sauce.
One of the most common things I hear from my centroamericano friends is that Americans like sweets way too much. Is the ice cream in Guatemala less sweet, or do they just eat less of it?

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babooshka says:

October 5, 2008 at 9:17 am

Intereting to note the names. Tomato sauce. That would be a surprise.

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Javier says:

October 5, 2008 at 11:06 am

I can have up to three of this ice creams whenever I visit Antigua…Rudy, I am craving for one of this now. With chirmol of course.

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Raidar says:

October 5, 2008 at 5:03 pm

Up in the Peten, I don’t recall ever seeing an ice cream cart where they added syrup. Most sellers would just reach in, plop some ice cream on top and walk around for a bit trying to tempt someone. If no one was taking they would just toss the scoop back in the bin, making the ice cream seem a lot smooth/softer than the above picture. Anything around you like that?

Nice to see a different side of things though! Makes me crave some ice cream.

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Serving-Ice-Cream says:

October 6, 2008 at 5:14 am

Wow! This ice cream sounds really interesting! I never would have guessed they put that kind of sauce on! Really neat! I would love to try it!

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Fitz says:

October 9, 2008 at 6:42 pm

This pictures brings great memories, still remember to the minor detail of how this ice cream was being serve, the sound of the spatula churning and turning the ice cream being put on the cone, the smell of vanilla and of course the sight of the bucket sitting in the ice and the ice covered with salt to slow down the melting of the ice. Of course this is the time before the cart got so fancy. I can almost taste the ice cream. Time to go to Antigua again!!!!

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Close-up Look at a Guatemalan Ice Cream Cart

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