Boston’s North End is the sort of Little Italy other cities only dream of. With narrow, winding streets, killer pizzerias, and AC Milan vs. Juventus soccer matches on every bar TV, it’s a neighborhood that hasn’t strayed far from its Southern Italian roots. Which, of course, makes it a prime place for cannoli-hunting. While the streets are lined with pasticcerie, the cannoli landscape revolves around two major contenders: Mike’s Pastry and Modern Pastry Shop, facing off on opposite sides of Hanover Street. Mike’s is the tourist-trafficked favorite, but many locals prefer Modern’s modest storefront and delicate pastry shells. So which of these two is the real cannoli king?...
Continue reading »
Photograph from angela n. on Flickr This past weekend I drove about 2 hours down to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to see a good friend from college get married in the backyard of his parents' beautiful historic farmhouse. The food in general was better than average, but was topped off by an incredible dessert spread of Italian pastries and cakes all baked by the groom's sister, an Italian-trained pastry chef. During the cocktail hour, I was given insider information from the groom's other sister not to miss the mini-cannoli (also called cannulicchi), which were the real deal--made with sheep's milk ricotta rather than mascarpone or, heaven forbid, custard. Adding to their value was their relative scarcity: there were only 30...
Continue reading »
