Lychee Lime Granita

Lychee Lime Granita is the perfect dessert of summer days,
lazy on the patio with someone you love, watching as the sun sets.

Those couple weeks of transition between spring and summer are one of my favourites. People shed their scarves, their jackets, and I’m surrounded by people with smiles, hand-holding and laughter. I see faces I haven’t seen in a while because people are less deterred by the weather and are craving sunshine and fresh air. Summer is a new beginning.

Summer is fresh fruits and vegetables, strolling up and down the stalls of farmer’s markets. Or walking all the way down Spadina from College, then walking back up the other side to visit all my favourite shops and restaurants. Dumplings at Mother’s, bubble tea at TenRen’s, seeing the latest cute phone cases to add to my collection. And my favourite?

Perusing the market stalls, seeing the mountains of the my favourite, freshly imported fruits that can only be found during the summer in Chinatown. Mounds of mangosteen, piles of mango, massive tubs of lychee and rambutan. The air is teeming fruity fragrances in the summer wind. I’m surrounded by my own people, and I feel oddly at home.

At the end of the day, I come home with gigantic bags of lychee. If I were with my family, they would descend upon the basket I’ve filled by picking the most plump, pink, and juicy-looking fruit. Their thumbs pierce through the skin, and juice starts to burst out. Quickly popping it in their mouth, they savour the sweet, lychee flavour, eating around the smooth black seeds.

But alas, I am alone and there’s nobody but me to eat all this lychee I bought. Instead, I puree them with a squeeze of lime and freeze them as Italian ice, using a fork to scrape the pan until a few hours later, I have sweet glittering snow. A spoonful of these delicate flakes disappears in your mouth and you’re left with a few bits of pulp and the lingering sweet flavour of lychee.

I transfer the lychee lime granita to a glass container in the freezer, and pull it out anytime I wish for a spoonful of summer and long sunny walks in Chinatown. To see the recipe, visit Produce Made Simple =).