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Dateline: Rome, August 1971<\/strong><\/p>\n It was hot. Hot like only Rome can get in August. That’s why the Romans leave the Eternal City to us tourists. I walked toward the Colosseum and realized the asphalt was literally sinking beneath my feet. I could feel the heat of it through my shoes. Like I said Rome is hot. I decided to take a detour and grab something refreshing. I said to the waiter, “Prendo una granita di caff\u00e8, per favore.” “Con panna?” came the response. I thought a second and said, “Si, con panna.”<\/p>\n That interchange was almost lightning fast, and so was relief. The translation is simple, “I’ll have a Granita di caff\u00e8.” “With cream?” “Yes, with cream.” Very quickly the waiter brought me a glass of icy coffee crystals topped with softly whipped cream. I don’t know if service was always that fast or if I presented in a most precarious state. Cool and icy, with the taste of strong coffee and a kiss of sugar, it hit the spot. I felt better and continued on to Emperor Vespasian’s iconic amphitheater.<\/p>\n I’ve meant to write about the class of desserts known as granita for ages. I was pressed on to do it this weekend by an article in the Los Angeles Times diminutive Food Section. Granita is simple. Make a tasty, sweet (or savory – like tomato) liquid.<\/p>\n Pour the liquid into a low pan, such as a baking dish, and place it in the freezer. After about 1 hour, or when the liquid has begun to freeze (the edges will freeze first) rake a fork across the top to separate the frozen mass into crystals. That is it. There’s no great mystery to the technique.<\/p>\n The only tricky bit comes in when you flavor the liquid. Generally speaking the liquid needs to be well flavored and on the sweet side in order to have full flavor when frozen and raked into crystals. Watch it with the sugar, though; too much sugar, and the mixture will never freeze. You can make granite (plural) from just about anything you can liquefy. In Italy you’ll find them made of espresso, lemon and other fruits.<\/p>\n The recipe calls for a cinnamon stick to be combined with simple syrup (1 cup water and 1 \u00bc cups of granulated sugar) as it boils and cools. Technically this addition renders the Times’ version profumata alla cannella<\/em> (perfumed with cinnamon.) I had never seen cinnamon in this preparation before. A quick consultation with American expat Judy Witts Francini of Divina Cucina Cooking School<\/em><\/a> in Certaldo, near Florence, Italy, and I learned that this is often seen in Sicily. That made perfect sense considering the tremendous Arab influence on the island.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/a>First let me say that you can not get a good Granita di Caff\u00e8 without good coffee, and Italian is the best to use. That is just the way it is. I grabbed a can of Lavazza<\/a> espresso. It makes deeply flavored, strong espresso with no trace of bitterness. The Times called for combining 1 cup of finely ground coffee with 4 cups of water. No steeping time was given. I let mine go for 10 minutes, after which time I strained it through cheesecloth to be certain no grounds made their way into the granita. The Times’ staff wisely took into account that some of the 4 cups of water would be taken up by the coffee itself. Thus, their recipe called for just 3 cups of brewed coffee.<\/p>\n
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