Last Sunday, the sixth annual Italian Day saw Commercial Drive transformed into a sea of people clustered around food: salt-cured sardines, Nonna鈥檚 meatballs, wood-fired pizza 鈥� and, of course, cannoli.
鈥淭here鈥檚 not much to cannoli,鈥� says Sam Pero, owner of Italia Bakery (2828 Hastings St.) and the Cannoli King food truck.
In some ways, he鈥檚 right. Cannoli is little more than a hollow tube with a ricotta filling. But that simplicity belies all the details that separate a good cannoli from a soggy, bland disappointment.
At Italia Bakery, the cannoli shells are made from scratch daily. They鈥檙e perfectly deep-fried, never greasy. The ricotta cream is rich and sweet, and flecked with miniature chocolate chips. Best of all, they are filled to order, ensuring the optimal contrast between crisp shell and creamy filling.
If anyone should know a good cannoli, Pero should. His dad, Francesco, was born in Sicily, where cannoli originates. The family鈥檚 baking roots run from Italy to Montreal and finally to Vancouver, where they鈥檝e run a number of bakeries 鈥� including Italia Bakery, founded in 1985.
Then and now, the majority of Italia Bakery鈥檚 products are made in-house, from scratch. One notable exception is the sfogliatelle, a shell-shaped, flaky pastry filled with cinnamon-spiced custard. Pero鈥檚 father still makes them by hand, but can鈥檛 keep up with the bakery鈥檚 demands, so the son imports them from Italy.
鈥淪foglia means鈥� to unravel. Like you have a loose thread and you pull it and it keeps coming,鈥� says Pero. 鈥淭here are so many layers you can unravel it.鈥�
All those layers register as noisy flakiness, but in a distinctly Italian way.
Whereas a good French croissant flakes into buttery crumbs, there鈥檚 an al dente quality to sfogliatelle 鈥� a resistance that lends backbone to all that flake.
If that doesn鈥檛 suit you, there鈥檚 plenty more to choose from at Italia Bakery. There are beautiful breads, petite babas (rum-soaked cakes that come plain-faced or garnished with cream and fruit) and cookies galore. Chief among them are amaretti, teeny almond cookies that come in all shapes and sizes. The standout is the pinched amaretti, its glassy surface giving way to a squidgy heart of soft almond dough.
But in the end, it鈥檚 really about the cannoli. There are fancy flavours that riff on the traditional, plain ricotta version, including pistachio and raspberry 鈥� the latter an invention of Pero鈥檚, based on the raspberry and ricotta sandwiches his grandmother used to make him. Because the ricotta cream contains nuts, there are also nut-free, pastry-cream-filled cannoli, in vanilla, chocolate and hazelnut.
(Note: the flavoured cannoli are filled in the morning and displayed in the pastry case. They鈥檙e fine if eaten the same day, but not quite the same as the plain, filled-to-order version.)
In 2012, Pero started the Cannoli King food truck and has since exhibited at Italian Day and the PNE. At last year鈥檚 PNE, many of his customers tried cannoli for the first time. 鈥淚 basically told them, save your money. Don鈥檛 go to Italy. Buy a cannoli for $5 and you鈥檒l save $3,000 on the ticket,鈥� he says.
You鈥檒l know the Cannoli King truck by the four-foot long cannoli on top, topped with a crown. More than likely, it鈥檒l be Pero in the window, urging you to try one.
鈥淚t鈥檚 actually quite funny. Wherever I go, people recognize me. I鈥檓 at Home Depot and this guy comes up to me and says, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e the cannoli king,鈥欌�� says Sam. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 pretty weird.鈥�
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