Paleteria Fernandez

Though it waves in English speakers with the label "ice cream shop," at Paleteria Fernandez, popsicles are the prize. You'll find typical Mexican varieties like tamarind, mango with chili, and "rice pudding" as well as familiar friends like cherry, lemon, and lime, but my instincts sent me looking to the far end of the spectrum. ("I think that's spicier than you'll like it, sir," the counterman said, though not quite in those words.)

The pico de gallo, a mosaic of cucumber, mango, and jicama with orange, chili, salt, and pepper, is, indeed, a spicy popsicle — spicy enough that I chased it with a simpler, creamier guanabana (soursop) paleta not long after.

Even though Paleteria Fernandez seems to have an eye on wholesale business — the popsicles are sold in clear wrappers branded with the shop's name — the paletas themselves are idiosyncratic to a fault. The pico de gallo was aggressively spicy, and the guanabana still contained a few fibers from the soursop that flavored it. (For that matter, the pico de gallo was also presented as the "roaster's mix," the guanabana, as "sour soup.") And at $2 to $2.50, they're about twice the price you'll usually pay for a paleta. Artisinal popsicle, anyone?

Paleteria Fernandez
33 North Main St., Port Chester, New York
914-939-3694