I was born into a family of Sicilians. My grandparents came to New York City from Castellammare del Golfo in the province of Trapani in Sicily at the turn of the 20th Century. I fell in love with cannolis (technically, the word “cannoli” is already plural) at one of our regular Sunday dinners at my grandparents’ dining room table. The crunch of the shell, the sweet cream filling, the candied fruit and especially the chocolate chips was one of the best things I had ever tasted. I remember asking my dad to get them every Sunday and was informed that cannoli were a dessert for a special occasion.

     As I grew I held closely to my love for those little treats. I remember having one on my first trip to Italy with my wife and family and realized that as good as those Sunday treats were, they didn’t hold a candle to what I tasted on the Italian peninsula. I wanted to know more. By the time we made our first trip to Sicily, to my family hometown, I was really starting to do research on the quintessential cannolo (the singular). I got involved in my family genealogy. I started researching Sicilian language, culture, and history.

This was in my blood and drove me forward. It is the secret ingredient, my memories, my experiences, and the history of that sweet treat.

     Although there are many stories on how cannoli came about, who invented them, what can be agreed upon is that the concept finds its roots in the recipes and ingredient ideas that were brought with the Arab conquest of Sicily during the 9th Century. It is the blending of many cultures that make it famous. For example, the chocolate chips that make is so popular in the U.S. owes its beginnings to cacao that comes from Central and South America. Dried citrus found in traditional cannoli were brought to Sicily by the Moors from North Africa as was the cane sugar that sweetens the treat. Finally, pistachios, still grown near the Mount Etna volcano, likely came from the Greek Sicels that first settled there. The Greeks may have gotten pistachio trees from the ancient Persians.

     So cannoli are an amalgam of cultures wrapped in a crispy tube. Now, The Cannoli Man is bringing Sicily’s greatest treasure to market. It is a culmination of my desire to share what I have known is something special from that first taste at my grandparents’ Sunday dinner table.