Italian Cookie Walk

 

With the holiday season in full swing, the HEAD Society’s thoughts turn to cookies! And everyone knows that the Italians know their cookies. And where better to find Italian cookies than North Beach? Our next HEAD Trip, the Italian Cookie Walk will head out on a journey of tasty exploration on Saturday, December 10, 2011.

We’ll meet at the Comstock Saloon (155 Columbus Ave. @ Kearny) at 2:30pm. This year the Comstock was selected as the 9^th best cocktail bar in America by GQ Magazine. It’s been a bar since 1907 when it opened as the Andromeda Saloon. It was described as a place where “angling executives, sharp-talking politicians and homesick sailors all rubbed elbows while brazen prostitutes flaunted coquettish charms at the brass rail of the ornate bar.” It is the last of the old Barbary Coast bars still standing (and serving drinks).

The original bar has been restored. It made from a single twenty foot long slab of Cuban mahogany and they serve Pre-Prohibition cocktails including Pisco Punch, Hop Toad and the Martinez (remember that one?).

We’ll take in some pre-walk refreshment before our band of HEAD Trippers sets out on our Italian Cookie Walk. From the Comstock we’ll head up Columbus Avenue into the heart of North Beach Our first stop will be the Italian French Pastry Company (1501 Grant Ave.). This place bakes bread and breadsticks for many San Francisco restaurants in their huge brick oven from the 1920s. They also bake a number of delicious cookies and biscotti but the star of the show is their macaroon – sweet as a kiss with coconut and chocolate.

This wonderful cookie was born in Italy, introduced by Catherine de Medicis chef in 1533. They were served at Catherine’s  wedding. She married the Duc d'Orleans who later became king of France (Henry II). The name "macaroon" has the same origin as that the word "macaroni" - both mean "fine dough".

Next stop? Mara’s Italian Pastry (503 Columbus Ave.) for the house specialty, cannoli. These tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough are filled with a sweet, creamy ricotta filling. Cannoli were first prepared as a treat during Carnevale (a Sicilian version of Mardi Gras). They were also seen as a fertility symbol (those Italians). Cannoli are an essential part of Sicilian cuisine.  The name means "little tube". Italian immigrants brought this treat to America. In Italy, these Sicilian pastry treats are commonly known as "cannoli Siciliani" or, Sicilian cannoli. They range in size from "cannulicchi", no bigger than a finger, to  fist-sized proportions.

A little ways down the street we’ll find our next bakery, Stella Pastry and Café (446 Columbus Ave.). This place has been a San Francisco landmark since it opened in 1942. The house specialty is the Sacripantina, a multilayered cake made with a “pan di spagna” (vanilla sponge cake), zabaione (delicate custard made with egg yolks, sweet butter, Marsala and sherry), cream, and rum. It's like eating a delicious cloud – a cloud full of flavor.

Sacripantina  was created in 1851 by Giovanni Preti in his pastry shop in Genoa. The name was inspired by the character Sacripante in the Italian romantic epic “Orlando Furioso” (“The Frenzy of Orlando” or “Mad Orlando”). Sacripante was a king and leader of knights. He was tormented by his love for Angelica (the most beautiful woman he had ever seen). He wanted her and fought to defend her.

Full yet? I don’t think so because we’ve saved the best for last, Victoria Pastry Company (1362 Stockton St.). Founded by Sicilian immigrants in 1914, Victoria specializes in a dizzying array of Italian cookies, biscotti, tortes and cakes. They still use the original Sicilian recipes and the same brick oven which is now almost 100 years old.  

At this point, we’ll walk around digesting and burning of a calorie or two. As our appetites revive, we’ll head over to Tommaso’s (1042 Kearny St.). Tommaso’s was the first pizzeria on the west coast. It was opened in 1935 by an immigrant family from Naples. They still use the original wood-fired brick pizza oven.

The whole walk is only .8 of a mile. An advance team from the HEAD Society’s crack research unit pre-walked the route. We learned a valuable lesson – eat a light lunch!