Have you heard overheard people talking about Piccadilly snow cones, raspas, or shave ice? If you have, chances are you’ve wondered, just what is a Piccadilly snow cone?
A Piccadilly snow cone is an American Southwest invention that combines crushed, slushed, or shaved ice that’s been sweetened with cherry syrup or Kool Aid and with mixed with pickles. It’s often topped with chamoy salsa, sprinkled with chili salt, and is sometimes adorned with sweet and sour candy such as gummi worms.
It’s an intriguing flavor bomb of salty, sweet, and sour that’s got to be tried at least once.
It’s a particular favorite of pregnant women – go figure.
A Rose By Any Other Name
No one is totally sure why it’s called a Piccadilly. It’s most likely a play on the dill pickles used to make it, rather than a reference to the popular London tourist spot by the same name.
Piccadilly snow cones go by a lot of different names, sometimes depending on where you’re buying it. It’s sometimes known as a Piccadilly raspa, coming from the Spanish hielo raspado meaning ‘scraped ice’.
You’ll also be here it called Piccadilly shave ice or shaved ice, just like Hawaiian shave ice. or simply has a Piccadilly snow cone.
These are different names for more or less the same thing. Snow cones generally used crunchier, crushed ice, while shave ice is generally softer and more ‘snow-like’. Some purists insist the ice needs to be shaved, but we won’t open that worm can here.
For the purpose of this article, we’ll use these different names interchangeably.
What does Piccadilly taste like?
Piccadillys taste like a whole lot of different flavors mixed together. It’s a sweet and savory flavor combo that’s been described as “an acid trip for your mouth”.
Every piccadilly is going to be a little different depending on where it’s from and what toppings you add, but there’s always a signature mix of sour, salty, spicy, and sweet. It’s the kind of combo that really works out your taste buds (or destroys them, depending on who you’re talking to).
Like with all shave ice with a mixed flavors, the individual flavors will be much more uniquely defined during the first few scoops. The tastes will all combine and be way different during the the last few soupy scoops. You’ll end up with a strangely harmonious blend, not unlike a finely aged Kool-Aid based wine.
But above all, give it a chance at least once. The mix of sugars and spices and pickles blend together into a really interesting part of culinary Americana that’s impossible to forget.
Piccadilly Snow Cone Origin
Hearing the word “piccadilly,” might make you think this sweet and sour treat is from London, but Piccadillys were actually concocted in the American Southwest. The general consensus is that it originated in either Texas or Arizona, but nobody’s totally sure beyond that. Some attribute the invention to a pregnant woman of unknown name. Anyone who’s been around pregnant women will confirm how that story checks out – pregnant women crave really unusual flavor combos.
Like a lot of American cuisine, and particularly food from the Southwest, there’s a whole lot of cultural fusion going on. Let’s dig in.
First, you’ve got the signature salty, spicy, sweet combination of the Chamoy. Chamoy is a popular Mexican and Southwest condiment used mostly for putting on fruits and making hot sauces. But this popular sauce is actually Asian in heritage and was invented by Teikichi Iwadare, a Japanese emigrant to Mexico in the 1950’s. He missed the salty/sweet/ sour taste of the pickled Japanese umeboshi (ume) fruit, and produced Chamoy in a similar way to umeboshi, except using locally available apricot and mango. The final mix combines pickled fruit, chili base, sugar, vinegar, and a citrus.
Shaved ice itself is a pretty cross-cultural phenomenon. Pretty much every country has their own version of shaved ice from Bingsu in Korea to Shikashika in Bolivia to halo halo in the Philippines and so many more.
Then you’ve got the Kool Aid and the candy on top. And here’s we’ve got the distinctly American culinary part of the Piccadilly: super unhealthy junk food. All laden with corn syrups, refined sugars, artificial colors and preservatives, and who knows what else. But as long as you’re not eating these things three times a day, it doesn’t matter – YOU NEED TO TRY THIS.
You only live once.
Where To Buy Piccadilly Snow Cones
Piccadilly snow cones are very hard to find outside of Arizona and Texas. There, it’s a revered part of the culinary culture, and a perfect way to beat the heat. If you’re in Texas or Arizona, you can ask around and be on the lookout for raspa trucks, roadside stands, and shops that sell it.
Outside of Arizona or Texas, one place we’ve found that does offer Piccadillys is the franchise shave ice operation, Bahama Bucks. We haven’t personally tried this ourselves and can’t vouch for good or authentic it really is, but they do have a lot of locations throughout the United States.
Piccadilly Snow Cone Recipe
10 different people will tell you 10 different ways to make a Piccadilly snow cone, so it’s important to realize you can’t possibly mess this up.
If you decide to leave out the lemon juice and put gummy bears instead of pop rocks on top, it’s not going to turn into a wedding cake.
The basic recipe consists of chopped pickles, shaved ice (or crushed ice for a chunkier snow cone style), salsa chamoy (this one’s our favorite), and either Kool-Aid or shave ice syrup. Any kind of syrup will do, but cherry and strawberry are most popular.
The list of optional ingredients is pretty much endless.
Piccadilly Snow Cone Ingredients:
- Cherry Snow Cone Syrup (strawberry syrup is also sometimes used, and so is frozen Kool-Aid)
- Your favorite Dill pickles
- Chamoy Salsa
Piccadilly Snow Cone Optional Ingredients:
- Chili salt powder (like Tajín Clásico)
- Lemon Juice
- Cayenne pepper
- Gummi worms
- Gummi bears
- Pop Rocks
- Sour Patch Kids
- Sour roll ups
- Kool Aid powder (to sprinkle on top)
- The options are endless…
Instructions
Shave or crush about half of your ice into a bowl or cup (a bowl tends to work better if you’re planning to add a lot of toppings). Pour some cherry or strawberry syrup onto the ice and top with sliced pickles. Repeat this once or twice more and cover the top layer with more syrup and pickle slices.
At this point, it’s topping time and the sky’s the limit! Here most people will chamoy sauce and chili salt for a nice mix of salty and sweet and sour flavors.
If you’re more into spicy flavors you can also add some cayenne pepper here. In Texas especially, it’s popular to top off your culinary masterpiece off with Kool Aid powder and sweet candy such as gummi worms, bears, and even pop rocks. Yes, you read that right.
Now behold the amazing thing you’ve created, and Enjoy!
If it comes out super amazing (or it’s a super fail) and you want to show it off, post it and tag us on Instagram because we TOTALLY want to see it.
Making The Ice – Shaved vs Crushed
Some Piccadilly aficionados will tell you that the proper way to make a Piccadilly snow cone is to used shaved ice, rather than crushed ice. You can do it by hand with an inexpensive manual ice shaver or use a fancy block ice shaver.
When it comes down to it, it’s just ice – there’s no wrong way to make it. Make it how you like it.
Can You Make Piccadilly Snow Cones At Home With A Blender?
YES! you can absolutely do that. A blender with big sharp blades like a Ninja is awesome for this job, but any old one will do in a pinch. You can even put the syrup in the blender with the ice so the syrup is nice and evenly distributed.
To make it really REALLY easy, you can also just freeze pouches of Kool Aid, cut them open with a scissor, pour them into a bowl, and mashup them up into a slushy mix.
