Reprinted from The SalviSoul Cookbook: Salvadoran Recipes and The Women That Preserve Them by Karla Tatiana Vasquez © 2024.  Photographs copyright © 2024 by Ren Fuller. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

In some ways, ensalada as a beverage is very variable, which means its flavors are also variable. Versions across El Salvador feature everything from nances, jocotes, and marañón to just about every other tropical fruit you can find in the country. Within the diaspora are a few other options: grapes, apples, peaches, and even plums. The essentials seem to be pineapple as a base, along with apples and jocotes. And don’t forget the fresh watercress or lettuce!

This beverage is special for many reasons. It’s a refresco (or fresco for short), but it also makes sense as an ensalada because it’s basically a liquid tropical fruit salad—tangy and sweet, with a wonderfully well-rounded flavor. In this recipe, Isabel adds pineapple essence, which she says is optional. With most of these ingredients, whatever options that are available are always the go-to, but that being said, if you have access to all fresh fruit, feel free to use. Same goes for the pineapple—if you can’t access fresh, some Salvi cooks suggest canned. Just make sure to grab the pineapple that’s in juice, not syrup.

Makes 16 servings

• 4 cups finely chopped pineapple, in ½-centimeter pieces
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 16 cups water
• 8 ounces marañón, finely chopped, in ½-centimeter pieces
• 1 Pink Lady apple, finely chopped, in ½-centimeter pieces
• 1 large ripe mango, finely chopped, in ½-centimeter pieces
• 2 cups finely chopped fresh mamey in ½-centimeter pieces
• One 14-ounce bag frozen whole jocotes
• 1 teaspoon pineapple essence (optional)
• 3 medium romaine lettuce leaves, chopped into thin ribbons
• Sprigs from 1 bunch watercress

In a blender, combine 3 cups of the pineapple, the brown sugar, and 2 cups of the water. Blend on high speed until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Transfer the pineapple mixture to a jug or beverage dispenser that will be large enough to hold all the water and chopped fruit. Add the marañón, apple, mango, mamey, jocotes, pineapple essence (if using), remaining 1 cup pineapple, and remaining 14 cups water and stir to mix well. Add the lettuce and stir. Allow the beverage to sit for 10 minutes so the flavors mingle.

When ready to serve, fill about a third of each glass with fruit, then top with the fresco. Garnish with a sprig of watercress. Offer a spoon along with a straw so that guests can spoon out the fruit as they sip.

KARLA TATIANA VASQUEZ is a food writer, recipe developer, and food stylist based in Los Angeles. Her writing has been published by the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, Eater LA, and KCET, among others. Her recipe development work can be seen in Food & Wine, Serious Eats, BuzzFeed Tasty, and Tastemade. She is also a food justice advocate and an active member in her community to increase healthy food accessibility in low-income communities, previously working with Hunger Action Los Angeles and Los Angeles Food Policy Council. She founded SalviSoul in an effort to preserve her family’s recipes, and since then it’s expanded to focus on cultural memory and intergenerational healing for the Salvadoran diaspora.