When the weather turns from warm to hot, it means it’s time to find a delicious way to cool off. Across the internet, people are using a staple of Latin culture to get a light and fresh summer snack. The trend is called “fricy,” a combination of fruit and spicy. For some, it illustrates old memories of fruit vendors on the street. For others, it’s the healthiest snack of the summer. It’s simple — just fruit and seasoning. But the combination bursts open a world of flavors that leaves you craving more of the delicious snack, able to be conveniently enjoyed anywhere with little preparation.
What does fricy mean?
Fricy is a combination of the words fruity and spicy and comes from the trend of adding spiced seasonings, like Chamoy, Tajin, Tamarindo sticks, to fruit. You might l recognize it as bearing resemblance to street food vendors, specifically popularized in Latin America, who sell sliced fruits like mango and pineapple covered in tajin in plastic cups. The seasonings are dusted onto fruit to provide a spicy balance to the sweetness of the fruit.
To recreate it, add chunks of fruit into a plastic cup, then drizzle with varying seasoning staples. After topping with a lid, give it a hard shake, sending the dusting of the chili powders to cover all parts of the fruit. Squeeze some fresh lime and pop a straw into the container to slurp up any juices.
Who is making them?
Well, TikTok! Despite this being a trend that has seen many variations across a myriad of cultures, TikTok is giving the “fricy” trend a renaissance it deserves.
TikTok user @brittsbevs shares her recipe by the pool, opting for watermelon and pineapple. She cut the fruit into cubes, mixing them into plastic containers and adding more of their juices before muddling it all together. With lime and Chamoy added, it’s officially a trademark of the fricy trend. For her version, she spiked it by adding tequila and agave, making the container a beverage by drinking the muddled juices, and later edible by eating the chunks of fruit.
TikTok user @amyflamy1 goes on an adventure documenting her first experience with chamoy, the most popular product used to make fricy snacks. In the version she tries, she has a plastic cup layered with strawberries and cream. Cream is a variation that creates an almost dessert-like texture to the snack. She also tried a mango and cucumber combination, the bright red of the chamoy lining the cup, offering a bold taste in contrast to the softer flavors of the cucumber strips.
What else can be made fricy?
The “fricy” trend can be combined with anything and is still delicious. It isn’t just an addition to fruit, but has also been recognized as a great rim on drinks. Many places that serve margaritas are extending beyond the traditional salt or sugar rim, and are offering tajin, adding a salty punch to the cocktail. In a similar vein as mixing tajin with fruit, some new variations of margaritas are being mixed with cranberry juice and a tajin rim, still preserving the fruit and seasoning flavor, despite the presentation being transformed into a cocktail.