I've never had a cannoli. Am I deprived?

[GreenPartyVoter]

[Left Is Write]

1. Yes, you are!

Cannoli is YUUUUUUUMMMMMMY!

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. Well, what are they anyway?

[Reverend_Smitty]

11. a flakey pastry

with a sweet cheese based filling and they are soooooo good...I command you to go to your local Italian bakery and pick one up! :-)

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. Well, we have a very nice bakery in town in the summers, but I am not sure

that Bah does cannoli. (She can do cheesecake, however, and how!)

[Left Is Write]

18. It's a fried tube stuffed with yummy fillings like cream and chocolate.

[Shoeempress]

2. NO, very overrated in mho

[msanthrope]

31. Then you have never had a good one---

properly fried, and filled with ricotta.

[Shoeempress]

35. Probably because there are none. I hate ricotta, so tasteless and slimy.

But then I find all Italian food tasteless. And I live near Boston and have been repeatedly to the north end with a friend who is Italian and considers himself a connoisseur of Italian food. Each meal is as tasteless as the last. But that's just me, for instance I hate ice cream.

[LostinVA]

36. Then yes, you've never had a good one

The inside is creamy and sweet and yummy.... the outside is crunchy and flaky and yummy....

[Shell Beau]

55. OMG!

Italian food is the most delish!!! Of course that is also my opinion! :9

[Crazy Guggenheim]

3. Yes.

[joeybee12]

4. YES!

[Nite Owl]

5. Indeed you are! n/t

[BlondieK143]

7. oh yes!

i hadn't had one until Boston. *sigh* they sooo rock! especially the chocolate chip ones!

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Hmm now that I have looked them up, I think I would prefer them with a

cream cheese rather than ricotta? :shrug:

[LostinVA]

37. No! Cream cheese?! SACRILEGE

Completely different texture and taste. The ricotta is creamy and sweet... sometimes with chocolate chips.... yum....

[GreenPartyVoter]

42. Ricotta is like cottage cheese though.. lumpy

[mcscajun]

44. By the time the bakers get through making it into pastry cream,

it's not lumpy, watery, or runny in any way.

That said, I've never eaten one of the damned things. I don't care much for sweet cheese fillings or cheesecake, etc.

[Gormy Cuss]

45. If you like cream cheese

Get a real cannoli with ricotta. The texture is smooth and creamy like cream cheese but it has a lighter taste. They MUST be filled right before serving. Be careful in Boston's North End. There are places that make them fit for tourists only.

There's probably some place in coastal Maine or Portland that knows how to make them. The trick is finding it.

[Enraged_Ape]

9. Weird. I am eating a cannoli while I type this!

Guess I need to buy a lotto ticket.

And yes, you are missing out.

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. Is it gooey and chewy? Or more like a sugar cone? I can't quite

figure what the texture would be.

[Bunny]

15. The shell is like a sugar cone.

The filling is creamy and smooth, with a hint of vanilla.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. Hmm.. If it is at all custardy, then it's not for me. I'll give it to

hubby if that's the case. :)

[Bunny]

20. No, not custardy.

Try one. Seriously. If you don't like it, you can send it to me!

[GreenPartyVoter]

21. So, NOT like a cream puff?

[Bunny]

22. No, not like a cream puff. In my opinion, anyway.

[Enraged_Ape]

24. It's much more substantial than a cream puff

It much more represents the dichotomy of crunchy and smooth...the yin and yang of delectable treats.

[LostinVA]

39. Creamy and smooth and sweet, nothing like custard!

[LostinVA]

38. And the real ones have red wine in the pastry part

It's kinda flaky, but also hard... and sometimes kind of chewy, too!

[Enraged_Ape]

19. More like a sugar cone

I think this one utilizes cream cheese instead of ricotta, which makes it much more smooth and sweet than other cannolis (sp?) I have had. And the "shell" is some sort of sugar-and-cinnamon-dusted fried tortilla thing. I don't know if it follows the formal rules of cannoli construction, but it's terrific. It's the best cannoli I've ever had.

Wish you could taste it.

[Bunny]

10. Crispy fried pasta tube with a yummy sweet cream filling.

They are out of this world!

[Reverend_Smitty]

14. drool...

I...must...eat...canoli...

[Bunny]

17. I know. Going on the google search to find a picture of cannolis

has made me SOOOOO hungry for one! :D

[msanthrope]

32. Not cream filling---ricotta, whipped, with sugar. n/t

[In_The_Wind]

23. ~ yes

try them with or without the chocolate chips

[unhappycamper]

25. Yes. If you come to Boston, I will enlighten you at Mike's Pastries. You

may pm me for connection directions.

[BlondieK143]

26. OMG!

That's where I was taken and that place is heaven on earth! Their strawberry cheesecake is absolutely wonderful! :) One of the few things I brought back to TN. hehe

[unhappycamper]

27. Yessssssssssssssss. There are a few things that we get right

in Bawsthan. lol

[maveric]

28. Yes! But your cholesterol level is much better than mine.

Tasty but VERY fattening!

[unhappycamper]

33. Eat enuf of these puppies, and you are a leader

in the cholesterol sweepstakes. You will be buried with a smile on your face.....

If I go into town tomorrow, I will take pictures at Mike's. For those of you not in, or coming to Boston: sympathy is in the dictionary between sex and syphilis.


Eat your heart out. . . . . .

[maveric]

43. I wish that Fisachelli's in Lawrence was still open. Best I've ever had!

Is Mike's in the North End?

[unhappycamper]

50. Yup - on Hannover St.

[Aristus]

29. Let's just say that if someone ever offered me a choice between

a gun and a bag of cannolis, I'd leave the gun and take the cannolis. :D B-)

[LostinVA]

40. Definitely.... leave the gun and take the cannolis

Except if you're going to the mattresses....

[Kat45]

30. The ones with the ricotta filling are the best, IMHO.

The filling is smooth and creamy, and I just love the taste of ricotta cheese. The shell (tube) is crunchy, kinda hard--a good contrast to the filling. Sometimes the shell is dusted with confectionary sugar. One warning: they can be quite messy to eat; you should eat them at a table or leaning over something so you don't end up wearing parts of it.

Yum--cannolis. :9

[unhappycamper]

34. What????????????? There is another filling?

Jimmies on the ends define my tolerance for heresy.

[LostinVA]

41. Agreed. Cannolis are made with ricotta

If they are made with something else, they may be good, but aren't cannolis!

Jimmies??? Hmmm... chocolate chips I'll take if I have to, although I prefer them in their naked creamy glory... (that sounds really sick...)

[Kat45]

48. I agree with you both: real cannolis are made with ricotta.

Other posters had mentioned the chocolate ones, custard ones. I was praising the ricotta cannolis, but I probably should have mentioned that those are the only genuine cannolis. :-)

[swag]

46. I prefer a Hostess Twinkie

[barb162]

47. yes you are, go find some and try them

[Lannes]

49. This is the place to go

http://sangennaro.org/index.htm

[Mutley]

51. if you're a fan of cream cheese then, yes

me? i don't like cream cheese so I'd have to say no.

[GreenPartyVoter]

52. But folks are telling me it's ricotta not cream cheese. I guess as

long as it is not custardy and the little crust thingy isn't soggy, it might be pretty good.

[DelawareValleyDem]

53. This description might help

"A cannoli is a crisp hand-rolled pastry shell filled with an exquisite thick cream made of ricotta cheese, miniature chocolate chips and finely diced candied fruit."

From the web site for Ferarra Bakery in Little Italy, NYC.

http://www.ferraracafe.com/default.asp?sessid=E63FB7B2-0C8E-410A-BC39-86550E8EB7F7&t=1&cat_id=3

I never knew some people use cream cheese. It sounds like an abomination to me.

[GreenPartyVoter]

54. Well they substitute ricotta in "light" cheesecakes.. now THAT

is an abomination! *lol*

[Mutley]

58. Oh

maybe it is ricotta. All I know is that I tried one once and I didn't like it.

[Shell Beau]

56. It is YUMMY!

As is tirimisu and spumoni! All Italian food is YUMMY! Mmmm... I am hungry!

[Strawman]

57. Yes. Get thee to a bakery. n/t

[Marnieworld]

59. Good god yes!

mmmmm cannolis! Get one with some chocolate chips in it too. mmmmmm chocolate chips!