Feasting on cannoli

I spent some time today with friends wandering through the Fisherman's Feast in the North End and ran into old friend Mike Cucchiello, the proprietor of Cucchiello's Bakery in East Boston's Day Square. Mike had a stand selling cannoli and, as you see in the photo, I couldn't resist having one. I must report that it was excellent.

Italians in Boston

East Boston's Italia Unita will hold their 13th annual Italian Festival this coming weekend in the neighborhood's Central Square area. Having been away from the city for a few years I missed recent incarnations of the festival, so I plan to attend and take some photos this year. As in the past, I'm sure that most of the food prices will be outrageous. Unfortunately, many vendors see this as an excuse to rip people off. However, the fun is seeing people I haven't seen in years.

In today's Globe, Kevin Cullen notes that former Boston mob boss Jerry Angiulo will be in for quite a surprise when he returns to the North End in September after completing a 24-year jail term. Fewer than 30 percent of that neighborhood's residents are of Italian descent, according to census date that Cullen cites. The North End, by virtue of its European-style street layout, plentiful restaurants and short walk to downtown and the financial district, is extremely desirable to young people with money. (Photo above is from the North End celebration of Italy's World Cup victory last summer.)

Eastie, if I remember correctly, is around 50% Italian American. This neighborhood also presents convenience to the city via car or subway, as well as a killer view from Maverick or parts of Jeffries Point, so we have our share of young professionals, but this community's bread-and-butter has always been immigrants looking for a foothold on a better life. English, Irish and Jewish immigrants came in waves before the Italians, and now waves of South and Central Americans follow the same path.

For a look back at the impact of Italian culture in this city there is The Boston Italians, a book written by Stephen Puleo that was published earlier this year. I have not read the book -- and I was unable to attend Puleo's reading at the Orient Heights Branch Library -- but I've read good things about it.

There was a time when it seemed that all of the political leaders in city and state were of Irish descent and that South Boston had an unfair amount of influence, but recently we've had an Italian American governor (Cellucci) and senate president (Travaglini), and we still have an Italian American mayor (Menino) and house speaker (DiMasi), and the Globe and Herald seem to be filled with stories about East Boston. The winds do shift, and there will come a time in the not-too-distant future when Latinos will hold many of the key political offices. That's the way of the world.

Ciao.

Grains of paradise

Bread is one of the keys to life ... at least for me it is. Yesterday there was a little celebration for Parziale & Sons Bakery, which has been baking in Boston's North End for 100 years.

My grandfather was a baker in the North End when he first came to the US from southern Italy, and it's possible that he worked at Parziale's. Whether he did or not, good bread is a reason to celebrate.