Granita

Baby pineapples that have been hollowed out make beautiful serving shells for this granita. These pineapples are available at specialty produce markets.

This granita is delicious as a palate-refresher between courses or as a dessert.

After experiencing a dazzling meal and the gracious hospitality of Martín Berasategui, one of the top Basque chefs, at the restaurant that bears his name in Lasarte-Oria, he gave us a final taste of his talent in a wonderfully refreshing granizado de cava. The following concoction I devised is very nearly the same, and surprisingly simple.

Softer than most, this version of the flavored dessert ice is spooned rather than scraped into dishes; they should be well chilled.

(GRANITA DI LAMPONE) Sicily's Arab conquerors were on to something when they chilled sarbat (sweet fruit syrups) with snow from Mount Etna. The evolution from chilled syrup to frozen syrup-granita-was only a matter of time. Granita is still very popular in Sicily, where the most common kinds are coffee and lemon. But it is also enjoyed throughout Italy in a host of other flavors. A big plus to this refreshing ice is that it is prepared without an ice cream maker.

Creamy sweetened condensed milk stands in for vanilla ice cream in this icy and refreshing take on the classic soda shop flavor combination.

Cantaloupe bowl > bowl bowl.