Cooling Down in Rome: Grattachecca
Food, Travel Tips — By Erica Firpo on June 2, 2010 at 10:06 pmEscape is not often a word that comes to mind when in Rome. The buzz of vespas, the intimacy of neighborhoods, the chitchat of cabdrivers, fellow bus passengers, newspaper and fruit vendors and café owners, and labyrinthine streets make the fit into Roman life seamless for visitors and gives them no desire to leave. Except from mid-June through mid-August, eight weeks that perfectly imitate a Las Vegas summer, minus the dancing pirates and the misters spritzing cool water every 15 minutes.
In short, Rome is a Dantean inferno where seven circles of hell come to life as: Exterior Museum Lines, Interior Museum Crowds, Transportation Strikes, The Metro, Hot Scooter Seats and Sweaty Helmets, Non-stop Traffic, and Waiting for the Bus, in no order of importance. Place yourself in any of these situations and you will reconsider why you are here, physically and metaphysically.
However, the Roman resident, dre
ssed chic in all temperatures, knows that the only thing to do is to escape– and a city escape is like an espresso in the morning—quick, completely satisfying, and easy to find. It requires no car nor train, no beach nor mountain, only a pair of shoes and one word: grattachecca. A cup full of shaved ice, flavoured syrups and fresh fruit is transcendental- and for a few moments, you’ll forget that you are in one of the hottest cities in the world.
Supposedly invented in the 1930s, grattachecca kiosks are still on some corners of Rome, with favorite Sora Mirella on the Trastevere bank of Isola Tiberina at Ponte Cestio. Open to the late hours of the evening, the corner is always crowded with customers vying for the Preziosa: a mix of raspberry, blueberry and strawberry syrups over crunchy shaved ice, with a squirt of lemon and fresh raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. Take note of the ice shaver– he’s fundamental to the perfect grattachecca. Other kiosks have since replaced manual labor with store-bought, pre-ground ice, an insidious and low-grade alternative to the real thing.
Sora Mirella
Lungotevere dell’Anguillara and Ponte Cestio
daily 9.30am–3am, Early Spring through Fall.
3 Comments
Wonderful depiction of Roman Dantean Inferno summers and requisite grattachecca solace. Mirella rules.
Had my first LemonCocco just the other day, and almost blessed the heat. Almost.
I’ve come to conclude that the world is divided into two categories:
LemonCocco and Amarena– sharp vs sweet