Granité, Frappé or Slushy in France?

from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
 

 A Granité or Frappé 
 A Slushy. In France it is a  Granité .
Photograph courtesy of Carlos Pacheco.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/carlos-pacheco/18685372398/

 A Granité, Frappé or  a Slushy Cocktail.

Granité or Frappé  -The French version of the original Italian Granita was, originally like the Italian, just sugar, fruit and water served with crushed ice. Many guide books translate a French granité  or sludge or call a granité  a slushy or sludge cocktail in English.  Despite most of today's French Granités  being very different to a slushy cocktail.  Here is one example from the dessert menu of an excellent Parisian restaurant.

    

   Granité de Pêche Blanche au Muscat Beaume de Venise – A granité made with fresh white peaches and that unique, and fabulous, vin doux naturel, the Muscat Beaume de Venise.    Try and order that at home!          

    Both the French granité, and the Italian granita, are, today, mostly very different to the slushies offered in the USA or the UK. Local  French versions, offered in many cafés  and restaurants will often include a sweet wine, or a local eau-de-vie, to make life more interesting; many will also use fresh fruit.