Like so many days throughout summer, I’m thanking those clever Sicilians today for showing us the way to transform ice into granita.
The story goes like this: the Arabs brought a sugary drink known as sharbat to Sicily during their domination, to which the locals added lemon, honey, fruit juice, or rosewater together with snow from Mt Etna and the the Peloritani mountain range, to make a tasty, icy treat to beat the heat. Pretty cool huh?
For so many reasons granita is the perfect antidote to Italy’s scorching temps. Apart from being ultra refreshing, it is beyond easy to make (and even the shoddiest of experiments turn out ok), it needs no fancy equipment, it’s the answer to an oversupply of fruit, it is cheap, dairy/gluten free, great choice for vegans … I could go on.
Making granita it just a matter of combining fruit, fruit juice, coffee, nuts or almond milk with a splash of water to dilute it, maybe adding some sugar or honey, then freezing the mix. Well not completely freezing. Once it starts to form crystals, the mixture is broken up with a fork and is then returned to the freezer. This process is repeated several times, at intervals over a couple of hours, the idea being to prevent one great block of ice forming and to create crystalline shards of icy pleasure.
The amount of water and sugar required will waver with the type of fruit you choose, the season, the fruit’s maturity, how slushy or gritty, how lip puckeringly sharp, punchy or peppery, you want your granita to be. Adding lemon or other citrus can sharpen things up. Coffee a certain kick. Wine and spirits another dimension.
The recipe below is for peach granita. It is more on the chunky, fibrous fruit side, but if you prefer something more icy, dilute the mixture by adding more of the sugar syrup. I like to serve it with blueberries for a mad, orange-purple colour clash as well as, a sweet-sour taste taste combo. Adding a drizzle of the Italian, almond digestivo Amaretto is particularly sweet.
Peach Granita ~ Granita alla Pesca
- 200ml water
- 200g sugar
- 4 – 5 yellow peaches, peeled, stoned and roughly chopped
- Juice of ½ lemon
Make a simple sugar syrup by heating the water and sugar over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar has been dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Place the roughly cut peaches and the lemon juice in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Add the sugar syrup and pulse until combined.
Pour the mixture into a shallow bowl or deep tray (shallow is your friend, it makes breaking up the ice easier) and place the tray in the freezer.
After an hour or when crystals start to form, break up the mixture by running over the surface with a fork. Repeat the breaking up action until you have worked the fork through the entire mix. Repeat this process several times (3-4 times is good) over several hours. If you find you have left it too long, no worries, it can be still rescued but a little more muscle power with the fork will be required.
Spoon mixture into small glasses or bowls to serve.