Granitas are a specialty of Sicily and a legacy of its Moorish past. Essentially, they are just water mixed with sugar and a flavouring, then frozen and scraped up with a fork to form a deliciously refreshing “snow”. They’re usually served in a little glass at the end of a meal or, more extravagantly, loaded into a sweet brioche bun and eaten for breakfast. On a recent research trip to Palermo, I was lucky enough to stay in a rather swish hotel where the breakfast buffet had a granita bar boasting a whole row of silver canisters filled with different granitas – coffee, orange, lemon, almond – that you could mix and match, then add various toppings such as dried or fresh fruit, nuts and whipped cream. Every morning, I was like a kid in a sweet shop, compiling indulgent mixes and then feeling a bit sick afterwards.
