The Fountain of Time and Ferrara Bakery

Yet another recycling from the LTH list-serve for the benefit of those searching in the future...



The Fountain of Time, or: Harpole, Grouchole, and Zeppole (March 12, 2004)

After taking out of town visitors to the Museum of Science and Industry (which is on a real tear of new exhibits, by the way, and well worth a return visit if you haven't been in years) and Piccolo Mondo (where even the worst tomato season can't dim the pleasures of my favorite caprese salad), I decided to take them for a quick drive around the U of C area. Before we found the Henry Moore where the atomic pile was or the Robie House, however, suddenly we discovered a most welcome sight: Lorado Taft's masterpiece The Fountain of Time, restored after the better part of a decade and out in the sun. And lucky me, I had my new, GWiv-style digital camera in my pocket.

The figures of humanity shuffling as Time prepares mercilessly to cut them off seemed especially worth contemplating on a day when we cope with the aftermath of another 11th of terrorism. And having contemplated them, one of the kids announced our next move: "Let's have dessert."

Indeed. Let us all have as much dessert as we feel we can afford to. Let us never fail to appreciate dessert, the eons of experimentation that led to the invention of pastries and ice cream and pie. Nero ruled all of Rome, Kublai Khan the four corners of the East, yet they never tasted a Dove Bar.

So being on the South Side, I quickly scanned my Chow memory and came up with Ferrara. My favorite thing in particular, the svavoodri or whatever it is, the thing that looks like a seashell and has a jumble of a name. So of course they were out of those. Maybe they didn't make, the counterwoman said, because they made the zeppole for St. Joseph's Day.



The who what when? Fine, I'll take some. I filled one box with usual stuff (picture 2) and then got three zeppole (picture 3). Kind of flaky and French yet doughnuty, filled iwth custard. Alas, a little fridge taste which is a constant hazard in Italian bakeries unless they absolutely move everything every day (and I don't know of any here that do). But yummy. Had a Bavarian Napoleon (there's a name that would have given Lord Palmerston the shivers as he was plotting mid-century foreign policy) which was plenty fine too. St. Joseph's Day is next Friday. You have until then to pick up a zeppole or two... unless, of course, Time has other plans for you in the meantime.



The Fountain of Time
Midway Plaisance/Washington Park

"Original" Ferrara bakery
2210 W. Taylor
(312) 666-2200

A side note, this *is* the same ferrara family that owns and runs Ferrara Pan Candy Company in forest park.

I believe Ferrara Bakery makes morning deliveries to ferpanco of pastries and such for the break rooms.

ped

A further note on Ferrara's. On the façade, the name of the (perhaps original?) business is written in stone and includes the name 'Lezza'. The Lezzas are still around but now out in the western suburbs.

For Easter, Amata and I decided to seek out new sources for pastiera (I never thought much of Ferrara's but now haven't had it in quite a few years). Well, we found a pretty good pastiera at Lezza Spumoni & Desserts in Bellwood (4009 St. Charles Rd.). Less good was the sfogliatelle we got there.

Anyway, it was interesting to see that there was an old business partnership (and family relation?) between the Lezzas and the Ferraras.

A

Antonius wrote: Less good was the sfogliatelle we got there.

A

Interesting, in the great Chicago v. New York food debate, one rarely hears mention of the sfogliatelle. Yet, here is one of the great failures of Chicago gastronomy. Occassionally, Ferrara's can be good, but even its best does not compare to the ones I have had in NYC where each layer morphs millimeter by millemeter from flaky to crispy to chewy, a real wonder of baker's art. As the sgogliatelle is to the Condiment Queen, what the samosa is to the Chowhounditas, I have eaten many in Chicago. I know there are few special ones.

Rob

Vital Information wrote:Interesting, in the great Chicago v. New York food debate, one rarely hears mention of the sfogliatelle. Yet, here is one of the great failures of Chicago gastronomy. Occassionally, Ferrara's can be good, but even its best does not compare to the ones I have had in NYC where each layer morphs millimeter by millemeter from flaky to crispy to chewy, a real wonder of baker's art...

Rob:

The Sfogliatella is indeed one of the sublime pastries of the world. Like another great product of the Neapolitan imagination -- mozzarella -- it depends as much on texture as it does on taste and freshness is crucial to the texture in both. The sad little sfogliatella we got from Lezzas-Bellwood had been frozen and the texture suffered predictably on account of that handling. Be that as it may, the taste also seemed off to me and that is something that should not have been so badly affected by the touch of Jack Frost.

You're absolutely right: excellent sfogliatelle are available from a number of places in New York and North Jersey and I am yet to have had one even vaguely comparable here in Chicago. Indeed, one hardly ever even sees them here. I assume that their absence in this area has to do with the fact that the Italian immigrant community in Chicago was originally dominated by Sicilians, later by Baresi. In New York, though plenty of Sicilians were around, Neapolitan culture reigned supreme amongst the immigrant communities, not just with regard to food but also music, theatre and even dialect. The Sicilians of the area have made their mark as well, but in a number of ways, the Neapolitan stamp on Italo-New Netherland culture has always remained particularly strong.

Which is the best source for sfogliatelle in Chicagoland? Is there anyone who makes them at least consistently well, even if not up to the standards of other places?

A

Antonius wrote:You're absolutely right: excellent sfogliatelle are available from a number of places in New York and North Jersey and I am yet to have had one even vaguely comparable here in Chicago. Indeed, one hardly ever even sees them here. I assume that their absence in this area has to do with the fact that the Italian immigrant community in Chicago was originally dominated by Sicilians, later by Baresi. In New York, though plenty of Sicilians were around, Neapolitan culture reigned supreme amongst the immigrant communities, not just with regard to food but also music, theatre and even dialect. The Sicilians of the area have made their mark as well, but in a number of ways, the Neapolitan stamp on Italo-New Netherland culture has always remained particularly strong.

Which is the best source for sfogliatelle in Chicagoland? Is there anyone who makes them at least consistently well, even if not up to the standards of other places?

A

I am not even sure I know the answer, but would be more than happy to participate in a sfog taste-off (there ya go Mike, there's my suggestion). Perhaps it is time to revive my call for the Chow-house, a club/location we hang out in, drinking exquisite cups of espresso, or beer drawn from our cellered cask, or selecting from the most divine wine list, filled with the assistance of RST and his friend of odd regional specialities.

It is at this Chow-house where we could gather all the sfoliatelle in Chicago and conduct an organized and effective taste-off. And when we were done with the sfogliatelle, we would move on to curd rice, banh mi, and giardinara.

Rob

VI:

I picked up a sfogliatelle a couple days ago at Ferrara's on Taylor Street, and it was much better than the ones we had back in April from Lezza's in Bellwood. As you say, it wasn't perfect -- the outside layers weren't crispy enough -- but the filling was quite tasty. Maybe the thing to do is to find out when they make them and get one that's just out of the oven.

Amata

p.s. I love the idea of the Chow-house. It better have Wi-Fi so everyone can post his or her impressions of the taste-offs immediately !

After no luck finding an old-school Italian bakery in "Little Italy" proper, I finally wandered into a cupcake boutique and was told about Ferrara farther down the road. Just what I was looking for; right up there with my favorite in Cleveland's Little Italy, Corbo's.