A red granita

I said this again about two weeks ago, I'm not giving up on citrus fruit yet.
When I went to my greengrocer's the other day, I found the most amazing blood oranges looking up at me from one of the stalls, begging me to take them home. It was futile trying to resist them. Of course I ended up with a bagful of them.






On my way home, I was daydreaming of juicing them into ruby-red liquid nectar but then the image switched to that of a luscious green salad dressed with scarlet-colored orange segments. What I actually ended up making, was something totally different and unexpected. A blood orange granita with juniper berries and Dutch jenever.






The recipe I followed called for gin, but living in the country that gave birth to gin or more accurately, jenever, which was later taken by the English and turned into gin, I couldn't use anything less than the original and iconic alcoholic spirit.






Jenever (pronounced jeh-nay-fer) is by far better than its English counterpart and even though I'm by no means an expert in alcoholic drinks, a single try was enough to convince me of its superiority. There are two types of jenever, oude (old) and jonge (young), yet this distinction has nothing to do with the age of the spirit but rather the process of its distillation.






Jonge jenever is the mildest-tasting of the two. It has a dry, neutral flavor, reminiscent of vodka or the Greek tsipouro, and it's clear-colored, much like gin, whereas oude jenever is caramel-colored and more aromatic. It has a robust, malty, sweet and full flavor, and taste-wise, bears a similarity to whiskey. Both these types of jenever are made with the addition of juniper berries, which give it its unique flavor, and actually jenever means juniper in Dutch.






I'm not very much accustomed to using juniper berries in my cooking as they're not common in Greek cuisine but ever since I came to Holland, I discovered their unique qualities and they swiftly became a staple in my spice rack. I have used them with venison and in marinades for pork and beef—their pungent and piney aroma and taste complement game and red meat well—, but this was the first time I was using them in a dessert, and a granita at that.






The blue-black dried berries manage to give such an earthy quality to the zingy citrus-based granita, that it is quite remarkable. The blood orange, with its bright color and even brighter flavor, the gently spiced sugar syrup and the addition of jenever, make this granita refreshing, rejuvenating, slightly boozy and not too sweet. The ideal palate cleanser after all the meat consumed at the Easter table, don't you think?










Blood Orange Granita with Juniper Berries and Dutch Jenever
Adapted from The Wall Street Journal

The original recipe calls for gin but I opted for jonge jenever. Don't use oude jenever because it has a different taste.

In Greece, you can buy dried juniper berries at spice stores. In Holland, you can find them in every super-market.

To make this suitable for kids, omit the jenever/gin from the recipe.






Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients
1 tsp dried juniper berries (15-17 berries)
230 ml water
115 g caster sugar
470 ml blood orange juice, freshly squeezed
45 ml Dutch jonge jenever (or gin)

Special equipment: mortar and pestle or rolling pin, sieve, shallow baking tray or dish 33 x 24 cm in size (approximately)


Preparation
Crush the juniper berries in a mortar and pestle or with a rolling pin. Place them in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan along with the water and caster sugar. Set saucepan over medium-high heat and stir the sugar until it dissolves. Bring to the boil, turn heat down to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let juniper berries steep until the syrup has cooled completely.


In the meantime, squeeze the blood oranges and pour the juice into a medium-sized bowl. Pass the cool syrup through a sieve and into the blood orange juice. Discard the juniper berries.
Add the jenever or gin and stir well with a spatula.


Pour the mixture into a large, shallow baking dish or tray, large enough that the liquid isn't more than 3-4 cm deep. I used a 33 x 24 cm tray and it worked well. If you use a smaller tray, the granita will take a very long time to freeze, which is not good.
Place the tray in the freezer for 1 hour, until the liquid turns slushy. Take it out of the freezer and scrape the granita with a fork, breaking up the ice, and put it again in the freezer. Repeat the same process every hour, until the granita is completely frozen. This will take about 4 hours, depending on how strong your freezer is.


Scrape the frozen granita with one or two forks and scoop it into bowls or glasses, chilled if you want. Serve immediately.

The granita will keep in the freezer for many days, as long as it is covered well with cling film. Naturally, the first few days, it's at its best.






Happy Easter to everyone who is celebrating today! For us Greeks, Easter Week starts tomorrow and Easter is next Sunday!