SICILIANA GRANITA
January 10, 2016
I thought I knew a granita well enough.
A glorified, more expensive, better quality slurpee right?
Not quite.
Locals would attest that unless you’ve tasted the sweet dessert of crystallised ice in its homeland of Sicily, you have not tasted the real thing.
The Granita Siciliana embodies the Italian tradition of utilising the available ingredients to create cuisine. Anne Robichaud claims that during the Middle Ages the nevaroli (snow gatherers) harvested snow from Mt Etna. During the hot Sicilian summer the noble class would purchase the crushed ice and mix it with local lemons to create a refreshing drink. Over time new flavours were created with the regional fruits such as strawberries and peached and nuts like almond and pistachio.
Testament to the nationalisation of regional cuisine during unification (1848-1870), today you can indulge in a granita anywhere in Italy. In Australia you will find an interpretation of the original recipe which reflects our palate and the (unfortunate) use of artificial colours and flavours. As with most dishes in the contemporary age the process and labour no longer reflects its origins. In Australia nor in the most of Italy, granita is not made from the ice harvests of local mountains. Yet I don’t believe that innovation nullifies the dish’s significance. We could say that despite its differences to the Granita Siciliana, the ‘Australian granita’ has a certain kind of authenticity to its context.
Just don’t tell a Sicilian that.
