Isgro's Pastries

[Mummer]

I doubt there's a better simple treat than a ricotta cannoli.

For years, I'd stop at the local Termini branch for a box of them before heading to my cousins' NJ home for a holiday meal. The tradition is so established that the one generation younger boy said cannoli when I arrived at our Austin familiy reuinion last summer. A couple of years earlier, seeing some in a pasticceria in Italy, his sister said, "I thought cannoli came from Philadelphia!"

The Ardmore Termini's has closed, so I no longer can cite convenience for not going to Isgro's. This morning I was there. Due to the holiday, they weren't filling the cheese ones to order. Isgro's cannoli

I also picked up a mess of fancy pastries. Isgro's pastries

You'll have to wait for that review, but I've had the peach before. One of the best more complicated treats.

8 cannoli and 8 different pastries - $44.25

Swung by John's Roast Pork for their signature sammie on the way back to the office. Goooooooood! But that's another post. (Our friend Holly has pages for both places.)

Everybody have a great holiday!

Edited November 27, 2003 by Mummer (log)

[Holly Moore]

We give Isgro's Cookie Trays as gifts to our employees. Mainly because there are usually 1 or 2 left over that I get to keep. A great assortment of cookies.

South Philly dittos re their cannolis

[otello]

You might want to try the cannoli from Varallo's at 10th and Morris. Outstanding.

[rockhopper]

I may be breaching netiquette by talking about grammar but..

Cannoli is plural. Cannolo is singular.

Vorrei un cannolo siciliano per favore.

Dammi 20 cannoli.

Same thing with ravioli.

There are several kinds of cannoli. Ever hear of an eggplant cannolo?

One of my measures of a good cannolo is whether they fill it when you buy it. It's like pasta; it comes out of the pot and into your mouth without sitting for 5 minutes in some bowl.

[Mummer]

The eight pastries:

Isgro's pastries, again

Peche Alla Crema - Outstanding!

Cappuccino Coffee Cup - Outstanding, ours had a biscotti (biscotto?) rather than a pizzel (their spelling) as garnish.

Tiramisu - Outstanding - not shown on their site, a slice from a larger portion.

Ricotta Cheesecake Swan - Very good - also not shown, but Holly's page shows a flock of them. Good graham crust, too.

Chocolate Deco - Very good - chocolate and white cakes below the dome. Also an almond taste; my slice was to tiny to be certain that was from between the layers.

Creme Brulee - Very good - not the shown tart, but served in a foil ramekin.

Fruit Tart - I didn't try it, but none was left on anybody's dessert plate.

Strawberry Ricotta Cheesecake - ditto above, same base as the swan.

As for the cannoli, they didn't travel as wall as others I've bought the day before a holiday. While the filling was delicious, the shells had lost their crispness. Experience had me preferring Isgro's to suburban Termini's, as the former filled the cheese ones to order. Per my initial post, these were prefilled.

I passed Varallo's on my way to Snyder for my pork sammie. Thanks for the recommendation; I'll certainly give it a try.

My limited Latin backgound tells me that cannoli is plural, but that language would offer one cannolum. (Sounds like a floor covering to me.) I've never ordered two pizzae.

[Holly Moore]

I may be breaching netiquette by talking about grammar but..

Cannoli is plural. Cannolo is singular.

One of my measures of a good cannolo is whether they fill it when you buy it. It's like pasta; it comes out of the pot and into your mouth without sitting for 5 minutes in some bowl.

I was using the Sardinian dialect - "cannolis"

Isgros indeed fills their cannolis to order.

[foodE]

Pottito's has the best ricotta cannoli, if you ask me. I think they've changed the filling recently, though. It doesn't seem as thick. However, it is still rich and delicious. I'm pretty sure that they are not filled to order, though. I have heard of people purchasing the shells and the filling separately, then filling them as needed.

I don't like Varalli's because of the citron. I'm not sure I've ever had Isgro's. Do they put citron in the filling?

[Andrew Fenton]

I may be breaching netiquette by talking about grammar but..

Cannoli is plural. Cannolo is singular.

Vorrei un cannolo siciliano per favore.

Dammi 20 cannoli.

Pshaw, rockhopper: I wouldn't order a "cannolo" at Isgro's any more than I'd order "due etti di prosciutto" at Di Bruno's. It's "half a pound of prozshoot", "two cannolis" and so on. When in South Philly, after all!

[rlibkind]

Who the heck cares about cannoli or cannolo. Let's talk sfogliatelle! I'll have to do a taste test and report back.

[Mummer]

Here are a couple of addresses/phones:

Varallo Brothers

1639 S 10th Street - Philadelphia, PA

215-952-0367

Potito's Bakery

1614 W Ritner Street - Philadelphia, PA

215-334-2996

I'll have to check them out.

[rockhopper]

I may be breaching netiquette by talking about grammar but..

Cannoli is plural. Cannolo is singular.

Vorrei un cannolo siciliano per favore.

Dammi 20 cannoli.

Pshaw, rockhopper: I wouldn't order a "cannolo"

Actually since I never order only one the problem never comes up :)