Saturday, July 5, 2008

Not Forgotten

This blog has not been forgotten. Honest! Been busy this spring/summer traveling for what might be the last time in a long time. One of the nice things about traveling though is the chance to take part in cities history, culture, and (my favorite part) food. Having traveled on the east and west coasts of the US, I find the east coast to be simply better for road trips. Each area is very distinctive, with it's flavors, while the west coast tends to have a lot of new takes on these older original flavors. Although I will admit it's significantly harder to find these small meccas of tasty goodness on the east coast.

I recently had a chance to stop in Philadelphia again and immediately went to South Philly's Termini Brothers bakery. It's hard to describe the bakery, so I'll let the cell phone camera do the work. Even at low resolution it gets the idea across. As you can kind of see, the baked goods run down the center of the isle, with a sign asking you not to self serve. None of the pastries are fancy, flashy, or overly decorative as many current bakeries tend to enjoy doing. Instead these pastries are simplistic in their style, but downright excellent in their quality. My personal favorite happen to be the canoli, which I believe are most likely the best I've ever had.

The canoli is a world of it's own at this establishment. You're presented with three options of fillings, original, chocolate, and a vanilla with pistachios. I personally prefer the original and chocolate. Once an order is placed, your server will remove shells that have been prepared earlier in the day, and begin to fill each for you. After they are filled, you have an option for powdered sugar on top. Originally my road-trip friends were reluctant to make this stop. After their first bites of these canolis all complaints ceased.

It's good to have dessert. Anyhow if you're in the Philadelphia area, I highly recommend stopping in for some fresh canoli. They'll be worth your time spent trying to find parking in the south Philly neighborhood.