Italian Inspiration from Boston’s North End

As I mentioned in my last post, I spent last week in Boston, Massachusetts.  I did a lot of walking around the city, taking photographs and exploring local markets and restaurants. One of my favorite areas of the city is the North End – an area famous for both its history (Paul Revere, North Church, etc.) and for the Italian immigrants who settled there.  While I enjoy the historical aspect of the North End, I am especially fond of all of the restaurants, markets, and shops that make up Boston’s Little Italy.

Before leaving for Boston, I was looking online for walking tours and information about Boston’s Italian North End.  In my search, I came across Michele Topor’s North End Market Tour. After browsing the site and reading about the tour, I was sold.  I reserved a spot on the Friday morning tour right away!

My tour was led by Jim – a chef who has lived and worked in the North End, and is a close friend of Michele’s. He was an entertaining guide and was extremely knowledgeable about the history of the North End as well as authentic Italian cuisine. I enjoyed every second of the tour and tried to take in all of the information.  I think I may actually try to take the tour again the next time I am in Boston for a refresher – there was so much to take in that I am sure I missed some things!

The tour started off with a brief history of the North End and some background information about Italian traditions.  I was fascinated to find out how much Italian American food differs from traditional Italian cuisine.  For example, did you know that Eggplant Parmesan is a traditional dish, but Chicken Parmesan and Veal Parmesan are not?  It turns out that many traditional vegetarian dishes were updated to include meat as the Italian immigrants earned a living and could afford to purchase more meat.  I never knew that!

After getting some background information, we began exploring some of the markets and shops in the North End. Our first stop was Maria’s Pastry Shop, a small pasticceria on Cross Street. Although the shop is small, Maria’s carries a wide variety of traditional pastries – far more traditional than the popular Mike’s Pastry on Hanover Street, we were told. We were given a sampling of Maria’s pastries, including biscotti, amaretti, marzipan, and sfogliatelle.  My favorite was the amaretti cookie – it was light, moist, and chewy.  I also went back after the tour for cannoli, and Maria’s didn’t disappoint!  Next time  you are in Boston – skip Mikes and give Maria’s a try – or if you really have a sweet tooth, try both!

Next, we headed to Polcari’s Coffee – a shop featuring a large assortment of herbs, spices, dried legumes, and coffees (they roast their own, of course).  The store also carries a large assortment of authentic ingredients that may be hard to find elsewhere, such as citron, carob, and salted capers.  The store was quite charming, and smelled marvelous. If I lived in the North End, I would be a regular at Polcari’s.

After Polcari’s, we continued on to Alba Produce. Due to the small size of the store, we did not have the opportunity to go inside.  Jim headed in and gathered up a selection of produce to show us – rapini (broccoli rabe), prickly pears, fennel, and eggplants. After the produce lesson, “Albie” himself came out to serve us a taste of the prickly pears and the fennel – delicious!  I have cooked with fennel before, but it inspired me to come up with some new fennel recipes…  You can expect them in the next week or so!

The next stop was Salumeria Italiana – a deli featuring an extensive selection of meats, cheeses, and imported products from Italy.  We did quite a bit of tasting at Salumeria Italiana, including extra virgin olive oil, Rubio Aged Balsamico (balsamic vinegar made exclusively for Salumeria Italiana), meat, and cheese.  The Rubio Aged Balsamico was divine – I had to stop by and pick up a bottle of my own after the tour… You can expect some recipes made with Rubio, as well.  Be sure to check out the Website – they ship within the US.  I will be taking advantage of that!

Finally, the tour concluded at V. Cirace & Son, Inc. – a beautiful wine store with a large selection of imported wines.  Inside, Jim gave us examples of the drinks that would be included in a typical Italian meal.  We also got to sample the Sogno di Sorrento Limoncello, made exclusively for the store.