HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — With Texas being known as the only state to serve pickles in a movie theater, pickles are especially popular in the Tex-Mex culture with many savory, sweet, spicy, salty and tangy ways to prepare them.
With over 750,000 followers, the TikTok creator @4chicasbonitas, a.k.a. Ashley Villanueva, has posted different ways to prepare these savory snacks, catching the eye of people who want to recreate these recipes.
“Pickles weren’t so expensive so we used pickles because they didn’t break the bank,” Villanueva told ValleyCentral. “We learned to utilize pickles and make them into many multiple snacks.”
Villanueva said growing up eating raspas, such as the pickle dilly, had influenced others to add different types of ingredients to pickles.
How pickles get tasty Tex-Mex upgrades in the Rio Grande Valley
In the Rio Grande Valley, the most common way to prepare a pickle treat is with chamoy, a personal favorite candy and tajin. However, in northern parts of Texas, the preparation of the treat consists of a combination of different fruits and flavors.
Villanueva, co-founder of 4 Chicas Bonitas, an online chamoy shop, told ValleyCentral one of her favorite snacks she created consists of a pickle coated with their signature chamoy sauce, with their watermelon powder, rolled with a fruit roll up and freezing it for a couple of minutes.
In McAllen, Jose Torres owner of Xquinkles, a local raspa stand, mentioned his favorite pickle snack called a maranda regia. The snack consists of hot cheetos, dried beef also known as carne seca, fresh shrimp, pickles, salsa and chile.
Tex-Mex pickles in San Antonio
In San Antonio, La Fruteria Chavez have their own unique way to prepare a pickle treat. Their snack called Mango-Dilly consists of a blended mango popsicle also known as a mangonada, with chopped up pickles, topped off with sour chamoy and pieces of tamarind candy.
Tex-Mex pickle versions in Dallas
A fruteria located in Dallas called Piña Loca, also is involved in the pickle frenzy with treats such as the Crazy Pickle. The treat consists of a fruit roll up candy covering rolled on the pickle, chamoy sauce brushed on top of the candy covered pickle, topped with tajin, then cut into slices.
Additionally, the Crazy Pickle is topped with a mexican tangy candy called Lucas Skwinkles, on the side a tamarind candy called Pulparindo and a packet of chamoy sauce.
The ongoing pickle craze in the Tex-Mex culture won’t go away anytime soon. Villanueva said one can do so much with a pickle, where you want to have a pickle but trying it in a new way.
