A door opens. A bell tinkles. The aroma of fresh corn floods the senses. Color catches the eye, bright blues and reds and everything in between. Picnic benches with red seats and white table tops to the right. To the left, candies and ice cream. Straight ahead, the main cuisine, paletas. The fresh frozen fruit bars come in almost any flavor you can imagine, the list goes on and on. Sweet, salty, sour, they’re all present, wrapped in colorful plastic, lining the sales counter.
Meet Jesus Ramos, an apron-clad man with perpetually smiling eyes. His eyes light up even more when discussing his craft, particularly coconut paletas, which are his number one favorite. It’s clear to see; the man loves his coconut.
Before his business was born, Jesus worked at a dairy for 12 years. He worked on a schedule of one day on, two days off. “I thought to myself, I sure do have a lot of free time.” His friend, tired of carting paletas from California to Yakima every 2 weeks, suggested that Jesus open his own business here in the Yakima Valley. In the beginning, he says, it was rough, because making paletas takes a lot of hard work. He reckons his business got off the ground if only because 27 years ago, there was no competition, but Jesus stays ahead because he’s been around for so long. And if Jesus is as passionate about his other flavors as he is about coconut, the three of us know he’ll have no problem.
During a generously spontaneous tour on a Sunday morning, Jesus leads us through rooms full of mammoth steel tanks separated by thick, hanging plastic strips. These machines, he explains, are put to use 4 days every week, churning out around 6,000 paletas a day. Jesus keeps it simple, making one flavor each day. Mix, pasteurize, freeze. No processed ingredients used; all ultra-fresh. Jesus leads us to an assembly line-style wrapping machine. He flips a switch, and it jumps into action, just like a movie.
Paleteria La Norteña in Sunnyside offers about 22 flavors on any given day. Their most popular are coconut, strawberry, bubble gum, cookies and cream, and lime. However, we found some more unorthodox flavors, such as pistachio, rice pudding, eggnog, and even mamey cream (props to you if you know what that is).
This “behind the scenes” look at all the work that goes into the 75-cent paletas we consumed earlier was pretty mind-bending. Most people don’t have the opportunity to glimpse at the wheels turning, and it granted us a useful perspective. The sweet treat you love to enjoy has a story, a story of hard work, dedication, and love of the craft. And, in a way, that story makes the treat even sweeter, doesn’t it?
Paleteria La Norteña is located at 120 Rohman St. in Sunnyside, WA.
Thank you to Davis High School graduates Luis Arellanes, Lucas Cook, and Davis High School junior, Molly Monahan for their collective time, talent and photography.
Don’t believe I ever had one!
Love this article. It is nice to see what is made in our beautiful Yakima valley!
Are the available by the box anywhere in Yakima?