ice cream

Rose-petal-jam & Pomegranate Granita/sorbet

aglaia Leave a comment

The frozen pomegranate juice produced on Kea had inspired me to make a granita/sorbet adding syrup scented with the rose geranium leaves from our garden. 

The other day I came upon a couple of small jars of Rose Petal Jam that I had made a few seasons ago, and totally forgot.

Tasting them I found that they were still nicely fragrant, although their color had darkened somewhat. ‘Why don’t I use them, together with pomegranate juice, to make a rose-scented granita,’  I thought, and so this one was created.

You may need to add some good quality rose water, depending on the fragrance of the rose petal jam you use.

 

Our friends and guests loved this very fragrant granita, so here is my very simple basic recipe. You can adapt it  depending on how sweet or tangy you prefer your desserts. 

 

Serves 8-12 (more…)

Share

Read More

Pomegranate and Rose Geranium Granita (sorbet)

aglaia Leave a comment

Pomegranates are just coming to season and they are delicious, although not easy to peel. Later in the season I will probably juice our garden’s pomegranates, but throughout the summer I use the pure, local, thick pomegranate juice we buy frozen on Kea. It has a somewhat tart and tannic taste and no added sugar or anything else. Taste the pomegranate juice you get and adjust the proportions of simple syrup accordingly.

 

We love the aroma of rose geranium, of which we have plenty in the garden. It is traditionally used it in the quince preserves, but also add it in our fig jam.  The pomegranate juice has plenty of flavor but no fragrance so by adding rose geranium leaves you get a great aromatic granita. Some liqueur or vodka is essential, we think, making the frozen dessert much more complex and easier to serve.

 

Makes 10-16 servings (more…)

Share

Read More

Mastic Became the Talk of the World!

aglaia 1 Comment

“We discover references to mastic in such diverse places as the logbooks of Christopher Columbus’ first voyage to the New World, and in the account and recipe books of the Sultans of Topkapi and the Seraglio.  We read in the history books that the allure of mastic drew emperors, monarchs, and princes into battles for control of the mastic lands and villages of Chios,” wrote the late Dun Gifford in his introduction to the 1999 Oldways Symposium about the “Healthy Mediterranean Diets and Traditions of Chios and Lesbos islands.”

Last week, some twenty years later, mastic became the talk of the world!

 

“Over my 54 years, I’ve pinned my hopes on my parents, my teachers, my romantic partners, God.

I’m pinning them now on a shrub.

It’s called mastic, it grows in particular abundance on the Greek island of Chios and its resin — the goo exuded when its bark is gashed — has been reputed for millenniums to have powerful curative properties,” wrote Frank Bruni in the New York Times. (more…)

Share

Read More