Bruno Scooping up the Nieves Love at the Streets International Benefit at the Astor Center

Here is a link to learn more about Streets International, a wonderful program that works with teaching culinary and life skills to young people on the streets in Southeast Asia.

Pig Out with Chida and Support a Great Program

Chida has been invited to participate in a great event happening tomorrow night at The Yard in Brooklyn. We're mixing up some fall-flavored nieves; Cajeta (goat's milk caramel--one of our most popular flavors at The Brooklyn Flea) and Caradonna Farms Apple Cider spiced up with canela, chili powder, lavendar and mezcal--watch out! The event should be so much fun; a huge pig roast (200 pound Berkshire pig from Fleischer Meats) with all the fixin's, bands and beautiful Brooklyn people. Come check it out!

Cool

Welcome to Chida! Chida means "cool" in Mexican kid slang. Here in New York Chida can help you stay cool, literally. Chida features nieves ("snows") which are hand-crafted, artesinal ices that are traditionally produced by vendors in food and street markets. They are either water or milk based and are produced by spinning metal canisters inside large wooden barrels with a mixture of ice and rock salt.

Last summer at the very cool Brooklyn Flea, Chida featured different seasonal flavors inspired by these Mexican market ices but featuring local ingredients such as Evan's Farmhouse milk, local berries and other fruits, and goat's milk caramel (cajeta) made fresh with Kortright Creamery goat milk.

The tropical ingredients (such as chocolate, vanilla and our low-glycemic sweetner, agave syrup from the Mexican plant that produces tequila) have been sourced with an eye out for the most sustainable and fair option.

Nieves are not your traditional ice cream (no cream here and mixed by hand) so don't be surprised to find a little texture and funk. We love it. We just think it's cool. We think it should be tasted by New York City's many intertwining foodie groups: international treat lovers, parent's looking for healthier alternatives to kid's sweets, homesick Mexicans, curious pastry chefs, hometown, NYC friends of Chida and locavores, etc.

The coolest part of all is that Chida, as a product/project was encouraged by a generous grant from The Culinary Trust and eGullet.org. Were it not for the encouragement (and amazing research trip to Mexico) Chida would still be a wistful idea in Chida's founder's brain; distant memories of deliciousness while visiting her kooky ex-pat artist grandparents in Mexico as a young girl. From Brooklyn to Mexico and now back again.

Say Chida!

Some photos of people at the market on Sunday, Tamilla, Danielle and Laura-Super Chidas!