Sicily’s Insanely Good Creamy Coffee and Granita!

Summer in Sicily: it’s hot, it’s sticky, and all you want to do is eat ice cream all day.

Luckily, the Sicilians invented granita, which is just as delicious, but with none of the fat of gelato. That means, of course, that you have absolute license to eat it morning, noon and night.

The story goes that Sicilian granita was originally an Arab idea. They brought iced sherbet to the island, and the Sicilians adapted the idea and ran with it.

Made from ice and sugar blended with fruit or other natural ingredients, it knocks the socks off sorbet, its closest cousin. In Catania, where I live, granita is smoother than on the west of the island, and the most common flavors are mandorla (almond), pistachio, Limone (lemon) and cioccolato (chocolate), although you can and will find many others besides.