Wednesday, Sep. 09, 2009

Peddling sweet, tasty ice on hot, sticky days

Weather is key for most farmers market vendors, though from week to week they ask the sky for different gifts: rain to make the corn grow, sun to dry the fields out.

But vendor Bob Patterson's hopes don't waiver. He'd be happy to hear the same forecast everyday: hot and sunny with a hankering for something sweet.

Patterson sells Bobby's Water Ice at the Midtown Farmers' Market on Saturdays and at the North Raleigh Farmers Market on Wednesdays.

He developed the recipe using just fresh fruit, cane sugar, water and a little fresh lemon juice as a preservative. Patterson took his inspiration from the water ice he ate as a kid in Philadelphia, where Italian women sold it from coolers on their front stoops.

"When I started researching recipes, I just wanted to go all the way back to the beginning," he says.

The Italian women he recalls from Philadelphia would fold the ice over several times during the day, which would create ice crystals and a syrupy center, sort of like a slushy.

Whipping the ice in a blender after it has been frozen for 24 hours is the crucial step that sets his ice apart, Patterson says. Bobby's Water Ice is smooth with a texture that recalls sorbet, but Patterson uses no gelatins or dairy products.

"It's nothing that I learned from anybody," he says. "And it is labor-intensive. I've blown out three blenders trying to get it to the right consistency."

His ice comes in six flavors: peach, strawberry, pineapple, banana-kiwi, mango and grape-blueberry. That last one may sound odd, but in this pairing the flavors complement each other. Patterson uses local fruit when it's in season.

This is his first year in the water ice business. This season, he's selling water ice in single-serving portions only, for $3 a cup. He hopes to sell pints soon.

He used to work as a printer, but as more of the work has become automated, printing jobs are harder to find and wages are shrinking.

Patterson has been interested in food since he lived in San Francisco, where cuisine is akin to religion for many people. His circle of friends had a rotating dinner party where each host would bring his A-game to the stove.

"It was kind of a friendly competition," he says. "It was just fun."

At farmers markets and other public events where Patterson sells water ice, customers usually gravitate toward the cart looking for something for their kids. But it's the grownups who usually wind up getting hooked.

Though it contains sugar, water ice is lighter than ice cream and the fruit flavors stand out.

Lactose intolerant customers love it, Patterson says.

Because he can't give away the secret formula for Bobby's Water Ice, Patterson offered another recipe that uses the vegetables of the season.

If you stop by one of his markets to pick up the ingredients, look for Patterson. He'll be there, hoping for sunshine.