Las Nieves

Oaxaca City is one of the world capitals of ices. The general name is nieves—“snows”—and the city has been famed for them for many generations. I have read that snow actually used to be brought down from the mountains to make nieves before there were ice-cream freezers, and they were served to aristocratic Spanish families in exquisite crystal goblets. Today they are made in more flavors that anyone can count. Oaxacans have passions for different kinds. People flock to their favorite nieves stands in the market, hoping to find some particular flavor. Or in the evening they gather in the most famous spot of all for ices, the plaza of La Soledad church. The Virgin of Soledad is the patron saint of Oaxaca, and the shady terraced plaza is said to have the most cooling breezes of any place in the city. Here young and old linger over nieves made in every color imaginable—pale pink, spring green, ivory white, pastel yellow-green, lemon-yellow, rich brown, exotic greenish-black, rusty brown, brilliant crimson.