My Favorite Dulces

I heard around town that the Mexican candy was really good at El Bolson Mexican Store.  It's a little shop that sells all that you need to make enchiladas, tamales, and taquitos.  They had sections of the store where they sold in house tortillas both corn and flour.  They had the authentic Mexican versions of red sauces.  They had a variety of cheeses both Queso Fresco (a combination of cow and goat milk cheese such as in Spain) and Queso Panela.  The cheese looked absolutely white, fresh round blocks of goodness and delicious.  I'm considering finding a recipe and cooking with some of the cheese.  It has a little shelf for galletas (cookies), but they were cleared out and long gone by the afternoon.  I have a craving for those kinds of cookies. I was a little upset.  They had all kinds of natural beans, the kind that have to be rinsed overnight and pressure cooked, and a whole shelf of authentic Mexican spices. 

It wasn't like the King's Market that has everything.  El Bolson was a small Mexican store with no produce, only things that would store easily and last for months at a time.

As I walk into the Mexican store, heads turn.  I hear them saying something in Spanish about white people.  I feel the need to talk, and so I say, "Hola, como estas?" Hello, how are you?  They say "bien" which means good, and they leave me alone so that I can do my shopping.

I'll be honest with you.  All I want is the candy.  After we have walked through the entire store, we stop at the candy isle.  All the candy looks so good, I think I've died and gone to Mexican Candy Heaven (if there is such a place).

 MY STASH

This one is caramel and milk.  This is a circular piece of cajeta, which is just a fancy name for caramel, and then it's milk.  The outside of it is white edible substance on either side and the center is chewy caramelly goodness.

The back of the package had this corny looking "Super Lion."  Oh boy, what fun.

Duvalin is basically a fancy kind of wrapped frosting.  Frosting can be a candy; it's pretty sweet. The pink ones are pink and white frosting, and the brown ones are the chocolate and white frosting.  They are smooth in texture.  Dip your finger in and eat them, and yes, it is that good.

This is what the back side of Duvalin looks like.  It's delicious.  A funny story, the lady at the cash register tried to tell me $1 for the Duvalin, and I thought that was unusually expensive.  What she was trying to say is that you can get 4 for $1.  The man behind the register knew enough English to say 4 for a $1.  I had Nicole go back and pick up a few more.  Of course some of the Duvalin were ate on the way home.

Vero Mango took me back to my childhood.  We used to eat pico like crack cocaine, and as a child, I was really addicted to pico. Vero Mango is basically a mango lollipop that is covered with a spice tamarind based flavoring.  The tamarind is a little bit spicy and it is also rough in the mouth.  For someone that is not used to unprocessed sugars, this sweet might start off a little unsettling.  Once the layer of tamarind is gone, the center of the lollipop is satisfyingly sweet.

This is the back of Vera Mango.  It is brown from the tamarind powder.  It's shaped a little fruity.  Believe me, this will be a little spicy and rough on the outside and smooth and sweet on the inside.  These are a must have experience.  I strongly recommend them.

This Limonazo is in the form of a powder or a salt.  It's a salty sour candy.  What a person will do is push the safety top open and pour it into the palm of the hand and lick it off (that's the best way).  It's extremely tart.  I could not bring myself to like this.  I don't recommend it at all.  You must really and truly embrace sour to like Limonazo.

This one is Olla Picocha and it is enchilada flavored.  It won all kinds of awards.  It has the very popular tamarind flavor with a whole lot of sweetness. I really do like this one.  Most Mexican cooking is very bland.  I expect anything from Mexico to have a blandness.  This candy defies what is regular.  Olla Picocha is spicy and sweet.  It comes in a little jar, and it lasts a long time.  This is most definitely the Mexican candy to buy.

Olla Picocha comes in a little plastic wrapper.  Once the wrapper is removed, the jar can be opened.  That's how this product is packaged.  I'm impressed with this particular candy.

I think one of the neighbor kids stole one of the candies.  The little chocolate one somehow disappeared.  I was a little bit mad, freakin' kids... I picked up one of the Pulparindo candies and it was the Chamoy flavor.  When I think of chamoy, I think of jalapeno peppers and hot and spicy substances.  This chamoy candy didn't taste like chamoy; it tasted to me like coffee.  I realize that chamoy is Latin American/Caribbean origin so I expect that, but I did not expect coffee flavor.  It was fabulous, my favorite.  The chamoy tasted rich, and I liked it.  I will be buying more of those chamoy candies in the near future.  The last candy was watermelon and it was just nasty, enough said.  The best thing about Mexican candy is that you never know what to expect.  I encourage everyone to try this at least once.  It takes me back to my childhood.  I was then and am now still truly addicted to the Mexican candy.