Licuados (also known regionally as batidos) are a
Latin American
Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...
handmade blended beverage similar to
smoothie
A smoothie is a beverage made by puréeing ingredients in a blender. A smoothie commonly has a liquid base, such as fruit juice or milk, yogurt, ice cream or cottage cheese. Other ingredients may be added, including fruits, vegetables, non-dai ...
s, made with milk, fruit, and usually ice.
They are also sometimes called "preparados" (meaning "prepared").
[
Licuados and other fresh fruit juice drinks are ubiquitous throughout ]Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. They are sold by street vendors
A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with costermonger or peddler. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells inexpensive goods, handicrafts, or food items. Whether stationa ...
, and in special licuado shops, restaurants, and fruterias (restaurants specializing in fresh fruit).
Terminology and variations
Licuados ("blendeds" or "liquifieds" in Spanish) are among a larger category of fruit drinks made with fruit juice diluted with milk or water: ''jugos'' (juice), ''vitaminas'', ''aguas frescas
''Aguas frescas'' ( en, cool waters, lit=fresh waters, italic=yes) are light non-alcoholic beverages made from one or more fruits, cereals, flowers, or seeds blended with sugar and water. They are popular in Mexico and some other Latin Ame ...
'' (juice mixed with sugar and water), ''refrescos'' (nonalcoholic carbonated soft drinks), and ''batidos''. Names for various types of shakes and smoothies vary regionally, and are not completely fixed.
By contrast with aguas frescas, which are made in advance and ladled from large jars, and other drinks such as refrescos and jugos, which are typically mass-produced and bottled, licuados are blended and made to order.[ The main difference between a licuado and an American-style smoothie is that licuados use a ]milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...
base, whereas smoothies use fruit juice
Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as ...
, sometimes in combination with sherbet or yogurt
Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in t ...
.[ This makes them lower in calories, thinner, and higher in protein than most smoothies, especially important in the third-world state of many of the Latin American countries such as Honduras and Nicaragua. Licuados may also contain nuts (such as almonds or walnuts) and sugar or honey. Variants include adding granola or using chocolate instead of fruit. Versions with raw egg fruit and milk, Americanized version substitute fruit with milk flavorings such as (quik).
Sometimes batidos (loosely meaning "beaten") are said to have milk, with licuados described as a milk-free version.] Term "batido" is described by some as Cuban. Different flavors of licuados or batidos have specific names, usually named after their ingredients. For example, a "trigo" (Spanish for "wheat") or "batido de trigo" is a batido with puffed wheat
Puffed grains are grains that have been expanded ("puffed") through processing. They have been made for centuries with the simplest methods like popping popcorn. Modern puffed grains are often created using high temperature, pressure, or extrusi ...
or other cooked grains blended in.[
]
Popularity outside Latin America
Licuados became popular in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in the 1990s during a period of immigration from Latin American countries. By 1996 the drink had arrived in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, where it was sold by street vendors.[ Already popular in border towns such as ]Tijuana
Tijuana ( ,["Tijuana"](_blank)
(US) and [< ...]
(where they are a breakfast food) the drink spread to California, first among Mexican-Americans and at Mexican restaurants and food truck
A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van) or trailer, equipped to cook, prepare, serve, and/or sell food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food; others have on-board kitchens and prepare food from scratc ...
s.[ In 2002, the ]California Milk Processor Board The California Milk Processor Board is a nonprofit marketing board funded by California dairy processors and administered by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. It is most well known for its Got Milk? advertising campaign.
The organ ...
spent $1.5 million to popularize the drink, as a way of promoting milk consumption following their success with the ''Got Milk?
Got Milk? (stylized as got milk?) is an American advertising campaign encouraging the consumption of milk and dairy products. Created by the advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993, it w ...
'' campaign.
Equivalent drinks
A similar drink, called ' in Vietnam, is popular in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
.
References
{{Reflist, 2
Non-alcoholic drinks
South American cuisine
Mexican drinks
Cuban drinks