Rouses Everyday - May & June

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38 MYROUSESEVERYDAY MAY | JUNE 2015
A brief encounter at the Rouses on
Baronne Street in New Orleans
brought back a flood of childhood
memories to me. In the checkout line ahead
of me was a young man clutching nearly a
dozen bags of Angelo Brocato’s cucidati —
fig cookies as they are so named in Sicily.
“I’m going to visit my mom, and I always
bring her Angelo Brocato’s fig cookies,” he
said without prompting, perhaps feeling the
need to explain the bulky purchase. “They’re
her favorite.”
The cookie, originating in Sicily, consists
of sweet dough wrapped around a flavorful
fig filling, and in Brocato’s case dotted
with colorful sprinkles. It is just one of the
dizzying array of delights offered by the
Brocato family in New Orleans for the past
110 years. Hence the recollection of going
to Brocato’s as a child in New Orleans.
The very popular Angelo Brocato Original
Italian Parlor is steeped in the Sicilian
traditions that trace back to
the capital city of Palermo at
the end of the 19th century. It
was there that a 12-year old
Angelo Brocato began his
apprenticeship inoneof thecity’s
most elegant ice cream parlors,
learning the special recipes
that have been handed down
from generation to generation.
The calendar drove the young
apprentice’s education, baking
Sicilian goods until Easter and
cold confections through the
summer months. Gelato was
made in barrels and poured into
loaf-shaped molds, and sliced
for serving, as the torronccino,
a vanilla-based ice cream
flavored with cinnamon and
almonds, still is. Perhaps most
importantly, he learned the
necessary techniques to make
the famous cannoli Siciliana.
As a young man Brocato
immigrated to Louisiana, first
working in the sugar cane fields
of Donaldsonville, eventually
moving with his wife and son
to Little Palermo, an enclave
of Sicilian immigrants living
in the lower French Quarter.
There he opened a tiny ice
cream parlor and continued
baking and creating Italian sweet treats in
the Sicilian tradition. He made gelato, the
rich, dense custard-based ice cream; cassata
cake filled with ricotta cheese and iced with
marzipan; totra della nonna, lemon-filled
“grandmother” cake. He candied fruits and
churned ice cream by hand, producing new
flavors for his fellow Italian residents. And
of course, he made cannoli.
The original Brocato’s prospered, eventually
moving to a larger shop on Ursulines Street in
1921 in a space that more resembled the tiled
parlor its owner recalled in Sicily, complete
with gas lamps and sawdust on the floor.
After their father died in 1946, Angelo
Jr. and Joe Brocato, two of six brothers,
took over the business with their
mother. As the French Quarter
grew less residential, the customer
base decreased. The Brocato
brothers introduced wholesale
delivery to grocers, restaurants and
specialty stores. And in the 1970s, the third
generation was officially brought into the
family business, including Arthur and his
wife, Jolie, who remain at the helm.
After almost 80 years in the French Quarter,
the Brocato’s moved the store to its current
location on North Carrollton Avenue in
Mid-City by Rouses, keeping much of
the old world charm: ceiling fans, rows of
apothecary jars filled with colorful goodies,
glass-topped tables, and the big copper
and brass cappuccino machine reflect an
era of Angelo Sr. when the Sicilian parlor
flourished.
Today, the Brocato’s treats are as much a
tradition in New Orleans as coffee and
beignets. A recent Sunday afternoon
found every table in the store filled with
customers from toddlers to seniors. A
couple in line behind us said they visit
Brocato’s every Sunday afternoon, sipping
coffee and eating one of the many assorted
seed cakes or biscottis made fresh daily.
Cannolis are filled as they are ordered, to
be enjoyed as crisp as possible. Ice cream is
made 10-gallon batches at a time, and only
fresh fruits, local if possible, are used to
make the ices. Some ingredients for gelatos
are imported from Italy and all the cookies
are made by hand.
What pleases Arthur Brocato the most?
“I like watching people walk out carrying a
box of cannolis, a touch of Sicilian tradition
in a Brocato’s box,” he said. “But what I most
enjoy is seeing the younger people who come
to the store and having an appreciation for
what we offer. It signals a future, and a belief
that the experience of coming to Brocato’s
will continue to the next generations. It’s an
appreciation for the old things.”
If you can’t make it to Angelo Brocato’s, check
the Rouses cookie aisle for cucidati and biscotti
packed in small bags, and ice cream and lemon
and strawberry ice in the freezer section.
Angelo
Brocato’s
by Mary Beth Romig
the Culinary Influences issue