What started in 1915 as a neighborhood Italian ice shop without a sign is ready to expand nationwide by offering franchises."It was one of those, 'If you know, you know.It's that little green shack,'" DiCosmo's Italian Ice owner Eileen O'Connor told Fox News Digital of the original Elizabeth, New Jersey, location.Now a community institution in Metuchen, New Jersey, DiCosmo's is hoping like-minded businesspeople will carry on their tradition by opening Italian ice shops in other places, with particular interest in franchises along the Eastern Seaboard and in warm-weather states, where shops can stay open longer.$20 FROZEN YOGURT? PROTEIN-PACKED DESSERT CRAZE HAS CUSTOMERS LINING UPO'Connor's great-grandparents emigrated from Italy and settled in New Jersey."The story goes that it was a particularly hot summer, and my grandmother was looking for something similar to the granita she had had in Italy," O'Connor said.
"She wanted something refreshing."Granita is an icy dessert made with water, sugar and flavorings, such as lemon, coffee or almond.It's popular in Sicily, where it's commonly eaten for breakfast with a sweet, warm brioche bun.DiCosmo's Italian Ice, shown here in its original location, used to be a little shack without a sign until the owners expanded the operation and moved the shop.
(DiCosmo's Italian Ice)The DiCosmo family had a little corner store in Elizabeth.It was there, O'Connor said, that her great-grandmother came up with a recipe to recreate the granita she missed using the fruits available at the local market, which happened to be lemon, the traditional flavor in Italy.The original recipe, a hand-squeezed and hand-churned mixture of fruit, water and sugar, hasn't changed in four generations.AMERICA'S FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR REVEALED AS ONE CLASSIC TOPS EVERY STATE"I can't mess with an 111-year-old lemon-ice recipe," O’Connor said.
"We have generations of customers who are coming [to the shop].They'll know."DiCosmo's simple, high-quality i...