Who first came up with the idea of crushing ice and flavouring it to make granita? The story goes that it’s all thanks to the Arabs who once ruled Sicily. They were fond of a frozen drink called sherbet that they flavoured with fruit and rose syrup. Snow from Mount Etna and the Peloritani and Nebrodi mountains was added to it by the Sicilians. During the summer months, they stored this snow in ice houses, which were the forerunners of our modern refrigerators. The drink that they created was called “Rattata” and it proved very popular. The recipe was fine-tuned…