By: Dina Di Maio, ISDA Contributor
This list of top 10 foods to get at NYC’s San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy is the definitive guide to the traditional foods eaten by Italian Americans.
1. If you try nothing else at the San Gennaro festival, you have to try cannoli.
Where to get cannoli: the legendary Ferrara on Grand Street and Mulberry, La Bella Ferrara on Mulberry, Caffe Palermo on Mulberry, Caffe Roma corner of Mulberry and Broome.
2. Clams
Where to get clams: at a stand, Umberto’s Clam House on Mulberry.
3. Pizza/calzones
Where to get pizza/calzones: Sal’s on Broome Street (the fried calzone is to die for!), the first pizzeria in America–Lombardi’s on Spring Street.
4. Torrone–Italian nutty nougat confection
Where to get torrone: at a stand or at Ferrara on Grand.
5. Italian cookies
Where to get Italian cookies: the legendary Ferrara on Grand, La Bella Ferrara on Mulberry, at a stand.
6. Gelato
Where to get gelato: Ferrara on Grand, Caffe Roma on Broome, Mo on Mulberry.
7. Pasta
Where to get pasta: Puglia on Hester, Vincent’s on Hester/Mott, Benito One on Mulberry.
8. Italian pastries
Where to get Italian pastries: the legendary Ferrara on Grand Street and Mulberry, La Bella Ferrara on Mulberry, Caffe Palermo on Mulberry, Caffe Roma corner of Mulberry and Broome.
9. Sausage and peppers sandwiches: When Italians go to festivals, this is what they get.
Where to get sausage and peppers–at a stand.
10. Zeppole are fried dough balls in powdered sugar–a staple of Italian festivals.
Where to get zeppole: at a stand.
Dina M. Di Maio is a New York- and Tennessee-licensed lawyer with an MFA in creative writing from NYU. She has written and/or edited for Glamour, Family Circle, Time Out New York, and the American Bar Association. She is the author of Authentic Italian: The Real Story of Italy’s Food and Its People. She is also a book reviewer for Ovunque Siamo, a literary journal of Italian-American writing.
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