Granita — Sicily's ice of lemon, almond and coffee

i. Origin & history

Granita grew out of an old Sicilian trade in snow. For centuries, nivaroli (snow gatherers) collected snow on Mount Etna and in the island's other mountains during the winter, packed it into stone pits or caves called neviere, insulated it with straw and ash, and carried it down to the towns in summer to be sold. Mixed with fruit juices or syrups, the snow became a refreshment for those who could afford it.

The idea of sweetened, cooled drinks is often linked to the Arab presence in Sicily from the ninth to the eleventh century, which brought sugar cane, citrus and the sherbet tradition of chilled, sweetened drinks to the island. The line from those drinks to modern granita is plausible but not well documented, and the decisive change came later: in the sixteenth century, cooks learned that salt mixed with snow made a freezing mixture cold enough to freeze syrups directly. Instead of pouring syrup over snow, they could now freeze the syrup itself, stirring it in a wooden tub surrounded by snow and salt — the ancestor of the pozzetto freezer still used for granita today.

The name comes from the Italian grano, grain, describing the granular texture of the ice. Texture varies across Sicily. In Catania, Messina and the east of the island, granita is smooth and almost creamy, churned slowly in a machine; in Palermo and the west, and in most of mainland Italy, it is coarser and flakier. The hand-scraped version is sometimes called rattata, from the verb for scraping.

Granita is often confused with sorbet and with Italian ice. Sorbet is churned quickly to make a very smooth, fine texture with tiny crystals. Granita is frozen more slowly, giving larger, distinct crystals that melt into a cold, slushy mouthful. The American 'Italian ice', descended from granita, is usually finer and denser.

ii. How sugar controls the crystals

Granita is a study in ice crystals. As a sugar syrup freezes, water separates out as ice while the remaining liquid becomes more and more concentrated. The more sugar there is, the lower the freezing point and the softer and finer the result; the less sugar, the harder and icier it becomes.

For granita, the sugar content is lower than for sorbet — about 15–20 per cent of the total weight. That allows clear, distinct crystals to form without the mixture freezing into a solid block. Too little sugar gives hard, glassy shards; too much gives a soft slush that never quite sets. A pinch of salt sharpens the flavour without affecting the texture.

Stirring or scraping is what makes granita, not just freezing. Each time the mixture is scraped, the crystals that have formed at the edges are broken up and redistributed, so they act as seeds for new crystals. Scraping every 30 minutes as it freezes gives a fluffy, even texture; scraping less often gives larger, crunchier flakes. A shallow metal tray is ideal because metal conducts cold quickly and a thin layer freezes evenly.

Flavour must be stronger than seems right. Cold dulls the palate, so granita should taste intensely sweet and sharp before freezing. Lemon granita is made with plenty of juice and zest; almond granita uses almond milk or toasted almond paste; coffee granita uses strong espresso.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 6 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 500 ml water
• 160 g caster sugar
• 200 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 5 lemons)
• 2 unwaxed lemons, finely grated zest
• 1 pinch salt
• 6 brioche buns, to serve (optional)
• 150 ml lightly whipped cream, to serve (optional)

Use unwaxed lemons with fragrant skins; Sicilian lemons, such as the Femminello, are the ideal. Strain the juice to remove the seeds but keep some zest in the syrup for aroma, then strain it out if you want a perfectly smooth granita. For almond granita (granita di mandorla), replace the lemon juice and water with 700 ml unsweetened almond milk or water blended with 150 g almond paste, and add a drop of almond extract. For coffee granita (granita di caffè), use 600 ml strong espresso with 120 g sugar and serve with whipped cream. Classic brioche col tuppo, a soft Sicilian bun with a little topknot, is the traditional accompaniment.

iv. Method

1. Put the water, sugar and lemon zest in a saucepan and heat gently, stirring, just until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse until completely cool.
2. Stir in the lemon juice and salt. Strain the mixture if you want a smooth granita without zest. Taste: it should be sharp and quite sweet.
3. Pour into a shallow metal or glass tray, about 2–3 cm deep, and place in the freezer on a level shelf.
4. After about 1 hour, when ice crystals have formed around the edges, scrape them into the middle with a fork and stir the whole mixture.
5. Return to the freezer and repeat every 30 minutes, breaking up the crystals and scraping the edges and base each time, for 2–3 hours, until the whole tray is a mass of soft, separate ice crystals.
6. Before serving, scrape once more to fluff it up. If it has frozen solid, let it soften for 5–10 minutes and scrape again.
7. Spoon into chilled glasses and serve at once, with a brioche and a spoonful of whipped cream if you like.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Cool the syrup completely. Warm syrup in the freezer takes much longer to freeze and makes larger, harder crystals.
• Scrape regularly. Skipping scrapes lets the mixture set into a solid block; regular scraping gives the light, even texture.
• Get the sugar right. Too little and the granita sets rock hard; too much and it never firms. Stick close to the ratio.
• Season boldly. Cold mutes flavour, so the mixture should taste stronger and sweeter than you want the finished granita to be.
• Use a shallow metal tray. It freezes faster and more evenly than a deep plastic container.
• Serve in chilled glasses. Granita melts fast. Chilled glasses keep the crystals intact for longer.

vi. Variations

Sicily's classic flavours are lemon, almond, coffee (served with whipped cream, con panna), black mulberry (gelsi), pistachio, chocolate and, in summer, peach, strawberry, watermelon and fig. In Messina, a mezza con panna is half coffee granita and half whipped cream.

Granita has relatives all over the world. Sicilian pistachio gelato and spumoni are the creamy side of Italian frozen desserts; sorbet is its smoother cousin. Shaved and crushed ices include the Japanese kakigori, Korean bingsu and the American snow cone, while Mexico's paletas freeze fruit on a stick.

vii. Serving & storage

In Sicily, granita is a summer breakfast: a glass of granita with a warm brioche, which is torn off and dipped into the ice. It is also eaten in the afternoon as a refreshment, and lemon granita is served as a palate cleanser between courses. Coffee granita is often topped with whipped cream and sometimes served with a second piece of brioche.

Granita is best eaten the day it is made. Covered in the freezer, it keeps for up to a week, but it gradually freezes harder and the crystals coarsen. To restore it, let it soften for 10 minutes at room temperature, then scrape it again with a fork, or blitz it briefly in a food processor.

ix. More from Italian

• Pistachio Gelato — Sicilian pistachio ice cream
• Spumoni — layered Neapolitan ice cream
• Tartufo — ice-cream truffle
• Lemon Basil Sorbet — herb-scented sorbet
• Kakigori — Japanese shaved ice
• Bingsu — Korean shaved ice