Gelato and Granita around Ragusa

The temperature is raising, and you had a day’s worth of that warm Sicilian sun. There is no better way to cool off and beat the heat than by having a Sicilian gelato. They are often hand-made daily in store, and you're not likely to regret a single calorie after tasting them:

ICE CREAM:

Around Ragusa Ibla, you’ll find many ice cream parlors:

There is Gelati DiVini in Piazza San Giorgio: they have a wide variety of flavors you’ll hardly find elsewhere like wine, quince, carob and cactus pear or fichi d’india (this plant is originary from Mexico, but it has found it’s own dimension in Sicily, becoming part of the island’s distinctive landscape.)

Dolce Barocco has what for me is the the best ice cream around Ibla. Try the “dolce barocco” flavour and you can’t go wrong, it’s a copyrighted recipe made with a mix of carob fruit, hazelnut and almond.

Around the seaside, you’ll find good gelato in Marina di Ragusa around the main square (Piazza Duca degli Abruzzi), La Sorbetteria, Caffè delle Rose and Caffè Roma also known as Pippo Boccadifuoco (Pippo Fire-mouth, a funny last name for someone that sells gelato).

But among the local favorites there’s the Blue Moon Gelateria in Donnalucata, Scicli. They have a wide selection of ice cream flavours (44) and allegedly the best pistachio ice cream to be found. I suggest you try it, legions of fans can't be wrong... Open daily. Via Casmene 1, Donnalucata. Tel: +39-339-114-7033.

Eduardo is a renowned pastry shop in Santa Croce that also has really good ice cream. The ricotta flavour being my favourite here. They also have some of the best profiterols in town. Via Roma 53/55, Santa Croce Camerina. Tel: +39-0932-82-1545.

GRANITA:

Granita is not exactly ice cream, it’s a sort of sherbet made of a frozen mix of water, sugar and flavoring. Usually you’ll find coffee, chocolate, pistachio, almond, lemon, strawberry and other fruits.

In an area full of great granita, picking favorites is tough. People will debate over whose are the best, but my personal favorite has to be Mandolfiore in the city of Noto. By all means, try it! The granita is a Sicilian classic, so you shouldn’t leave without at least trying it once.

Pasticceria Mandolfiore: absolutely FANTASTIC granita, by far the best I’ve ever tasted. This is the best kept secret (probably not so secret anymore, since it’s always packed) in the Valle di Noto. You have to walk a little out of the main street to find this place, but it’s really worth it. You’ll find it right across the Carmine Church.

They have a varied assortment of gelato (40 flavours) and granita (15 flavours,) including some creative flavours like peach with basil or cherry tomato with basil that are really good! Ask them to let you taste a few before you order. Almond, ricotta and figs (fichi) flavours are not to be missed. Their pastries are also as good as they seem in the glass display counter.
Via Ducezio 2, Noto, Siracusa – Tel: 0931-836-615

Bar Riviera: this bar in Donnalucata, Scicli has great granita, and it's usually packed in summertime around 5 am with young insomniacs. I recommend the pistachio granita with brioche. Via L. Pirandello 11.

Overview - Food

People around here like their food… a lot. Here’s why:


Breakfast
Forget about eggs and bacon for a while. Here breakfast “colazione” can be an equivalent to the continental breakfast (danish pastries, croissants and a cup of cappuccino) or the sicilian breakfast which takes place mainly in summertime, and consists of “granita e brioche”. Granita is a kind of Sicilian gelato served usually in a glass cup (I will post an entry exclusively about granita in the near future); for those of you watching the line, you can add whipped cream on top.The brioche is a sort of semi-circular muffin, that you can dip in your granita... it’s OK to do it! If you are in a hurry, you can opt for the gelato sandwich! Yes… you read well… gelato stuffed into the muffin (brioche) Amazing what you can do in Sicily without getting arrested!

Lunch
Your typical lunch will have (you guessed) pasta on it. Dozens of different kinds of pasta with hundreds of different “salsa”. After a year I’m still learning about new kinds of pasta and ways to cook it. Impossible to keep track of it all, but if you want to try something typical, ask for “cavateddi alla norma” (a sort of small gnocchi with eggplant and ricotta cheese) or try the ricotta ravioli with pork sauce. Another choice would be the “pasta col maccu”, I'm not a big fan of this pasta that involves fava beans paste.


Aperitivo
Before dinner, around 7:30 pm, there’s the “Aperitivo”. You basically walk to a bar and ask for it, first you choose your drink, alcoholic or non alcoholic (I recommend the Aperol Spritz for those of you who like some alcohol in your drinks and Crodino for non alcoholics). Then they start bringing all kind of ors d’hoeuvres (olives, breaded mozzarella balls, pizza, chips, etc). Try not to stuff yourself too much because you still have to face dinner.

Dinner
The usual dinner consists of an antipasto (appetizer), il primo (the first course) any kind of pasta, and il secondo (the entree) meat or fish. After these comes the fruit, followed by the dessert, the lemoncello (lemon liquor) or grappa (more liquor), and coffee of course.