South 9th Street Italian Market ★ 4.7
South 9th Street Italian Market in Philadelphia is the open-air immigrant produce-and-deli strip on 9th from Fitzwater to Wharton, the oldest working outdoor market in America.
History
Water ice, called wooder ice in the local accent, is Philadelphia's signature warm-weather sweet. Italian immigrants brought granita to the city in the late 19th century; the South Philly version was refined to a smoother, finer-grained texture using shaved (rather than crushed) ice, sugar syrup and fruit. Rita's Italian Ice opened in 1984 in Bensalem and grew the format into a regional chain, but the canonical reference is Pop's Homemade Italian Ice on Oregon Avenue, run by the Pop Italiano family since 1932. Lemon is the founding flavour; cherry, mango and blue raspberry the modern variations. Stands open on the first warm day in April and close after Labor Day. Eaten standing on the sidewalk with a small paper cup and a wooden spoon.
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 200g caster sugar
- 250ml water
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 250ml fresh lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
- Pinch of fine salt
Method
- Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan with the lemon zest, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Simmer 5 minutes. Cool, then strain.
- Stir in the lemon juice and salt. Taste; it should be slightly more tart and sweet than a finished drink, since freezing dulls flavour.
- Pour into a shallow metal pan and freeze 90 minutes. Scrape the surface with a fork as it sets at the edges, stirring the slush back into the centre.
- Repeat the scrape every 30 minutes for 3 hours, until the texture is fine, granular and uniformly slushy. The result should be soft enough to scoop but firm enough to hold its shape.
- Spoon into paper cups and serve immediately. If freezing fully, let stand 10 minutes at room temperature before scooping.
Tip from the editors. Scrape often. Water ice should be granular, not solid. Bring it out 10 minutes before serving if it freezes through.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
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