Schaafijs

Ingredients

The ice

• a large block of clean ice
• made from safe drinking water
• or plenty of ice cubes
• see the notes

The syrup

• 400 gsugar
• 300 mlwater
• fruit juice or flavouring
• see below

The flavours

• orgeat or almond
• red fruit or grenadine
• pineapple
• soursop or passion fruit
• whatever is local

Sometimes added

• condensed milk, to drizzle
• a spoonful of ice cream
• sliced fresh fruit

Directions

1. Make the ice from water you would drink. Use bottled or boiled water if unsure. The shaver and the block must be clean. Serve it immediately if you do. Put the sugar and water in a pan. Use more sugar than water by weight. That gives a thick clinging syrup.
2. Warm it gently until the sugar dissolves. Stir it until no grains remain. Do not let it boil hard at all. Keep children away from the pan. Add the fruit juice or flavouring.
3. Add it in off the heat entirely. Heat destroys fresh fruit flavour. Add it once the syrup has cooled. Let the syrup cool completely. Warm syrup melts the ice instantly. It must be genuinely cold first. Make several flavours at once. Keep them in bottles ready to pour. Freeze water in a large container.
4. Freeze it for at least twelve hours. It must be frozen genuinely solid. Use safe drinking water for it only. Let the block sit out briefly first. Give it about five full minutes.
5. Use long and steady even strokes. Press down evenly as you scrape. Work steadily rather than forcing it. Keep your fingers well clear of it. Hold the ice with a cloth if needed. Wet ice is genuinely slippery to grip. Pile the shaved ice into a cup. Pile it up high above the rim.
6. Press it down only very lightly. That helps it all hold together. Keep it as fluffy as you possibly can. Pour the cold syrup over the ice. Pour it slowly over the whole mound.
7. Let it soak in as you pour it. Turn the cup around as you go. Pour until it is coloured through. Add sliced fresh fruit on top. Use whatever fruit is ripe and good. Serving it is always done at once. Serve it immediately after pouring. It collapses within a few minutes. Make every cup fresh to order. It does not keep at all afterward.

Technique

• The ice is eaten rather than melted away, so it must be made from safe drinking water — freezing does not kill most organisms, which survive and revive as it melts, so contaminated ice carries whatever the water carried. Use boiled and cooled or bottled water anywhere the tap is doubtful, and keep the shaver, the block and your hands clean, since ice picks up whatever touches it.
• The blade is genuinely very sharp and wet ice is slippery to grip: keep fingers well clear, hold the block with a cloth, and stop shaving while a good handhold still remains rather than working it right down.
• Cool the syrup completely before it touches the ice, since warm syrup melts the whole cup at once. Sugar syrup is also far hotter than boiling water while it cooks, sticks to skin and burns badly, so never touch or taste it hot and keep children away from the pan.

Substitutions

• An electric ice shaver, a pulsed blender or a box grater on a small block all work; a block shaves far better than cubes, giving longer continuous flakes, and boiled water freezes clearer because boiling drives out the dissolved air that makes ice cloudy.
• Condensed milk drizzled over, a spoonful of ice cream and sliced fresh fruit are all common additions rather than standard.

Variations

• Shaved ice is soft and snow-like where crushed ice is hard and chunky, and that difference is the whole point: shaved ice absorbs the syrup so every mouthful is flavoured, where crushed ice lets it run straight to the bottom. Light pressure on the blade gives fine flakes and heavy pressure gives chunks.
• Pile the ice high and press it only very lightly, since compacted ice goes hard and stops absorbing syrup; then pour generously, turning the cup, since the ice takes up a surprising amount and a mean pour gives bland ice.
• Make the syrup thicker than seems necessary, with more sugar than water by weight, since a thin syrup runs straight through; add fruit flavourings off the heat once it has cooled, since heat destroys fresh fruit flavour. It keeps for weeks refrigerated, so several flavours can be made at once and bottled ready to pour.

History

Sold from carts in Paramaribo; the Dutch name simply means shaved ice.

Frequently asked questions

What is Schaafijs?

Schaafijs is a dessert from Suriname: shaved ice drenched in coloured fruit syrup, scraped to order. Sold from carts in Paramaribo; the Dutch name simply means shaved ice.

How long does Schaafijs take to make?

Schaafijs takes 20 minutes of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Schaafijs?

Yes, within limits. An electric ice shaver, a pulsed blender or a box grater on a small block all work; a block shaves far better than cubes, giving longer continuous flakes, and boiled water freezes clearer because boiling drives out the dissolved air that makes ice cloudy. Condensed milk drizzled over, a spoonful of ice cream and sliced fresh fruit are all common additions rather than standard.

What is the most important thing to get right in Schaafijs?

Make the ice from water you would drink. Use bottled or boiled water if unsure. The shaver and the block must be clean. Serve it immediately if you do. Put the sugar and water in a pan. Use more sugar than water by weight. That gives a thick clinging syrup.