Take the Cannoli

The Sorrento Cheese 9th Street Italian Market Festival will sprawl over 10 blocks, with dozens of market vendors tempting visitors.

By: Sally Friedman

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The Sorrento Cheese 9th Street Italian Market Festival takes place in Philadelphia May 21-22.


   When Gus Isgro’s Grandfather Mario was sent off to the estate of a wealthy Italian baron as a stable boy in Messina, Sicily, no one could have imagined what was ahead for him — and for the generations that followed.
   The lad showed such a keen interest in the kitchen that the baron quickly reassigned him to cooking chores, and the Isgro culinary dynasty was created. Then the former stable boy, who later studied the culinary arts in Vienna, crossed the sea to come to America where he opened his own pastry shop in 1904. That odyssey was prompted by an immigrant’s dreams of success — and in this case, those dreams were realized.

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   Today, Gus Isgro operates Isgro Pastries, one of South Philadelphia’s most famous bakeries, and the proud legacy begun by his grandfather lives on. "We’ve come a long way from Sicily," says Mr. Isgro, whose mother still lives upstairs in the house that is the original site of the legendary bakery — and still its home at 1009 Christian St.
   The more things change, the more they stay the same. While Gus Isgro no longer delivers pastries with a horse and wagon, and while there is no longer a family farm outside of West Trenton where the products used in baking were grown, the same pride in product exists in the company’s 101st year. But the cannoli created by the Isgros remains virtually unchanged, and has become the signature item of the bakery whose Christmas-season customers sometimes have a three-hour wait just to get inside for their cannoli orders.
   Those cannoli will be served up in huge quantities at the upcoming Sorrento Cheese 9th Street Italian Market Festival May 21-22. And like the Isgro family, this festival itself has a long history.
   "Nobody is quite sure how it began, but nearly everybody in South Philly can happily share a memory of it," says Judy Faye, executive producer of the event and a proud South Philadelphia resident.
   Ms. Faye is quick to point out that the festival celebrates a Philadelphia landmark that is the nation’s oldest continuous open-air market, dating back to at least 1887.
   The street festival, which began as a neighborhood celebration in fall 1971, gradually extended its appeal to the entire Delaware Valley. There were string bands, contests and, of course, food stands, many holding Grandma’s secret recipes. By the 1990s, the event was moved to May, when regional fresh produce was in abundance.
   The Italian Market Festival had its ups and downs, but in 1997, with area construction a major obstacle, the annual event that had drawn crowds of up to 100,000 was suspended. In recent years, local merchants and residents eager to revive the popular Italian Market celebration got their wish.
   By 2003, the Italian Festival had returned, complete with its solid emphasis on the wonderful food that is the Italian Market’s claim to fame. And each year, suggests Ms. Faye, it gets more ambitious.
   The 2005 festival will sprawl over 10 blocks, on Ninth Street from Catherine to Wharton. Dozens of market vendors will be tempting visitors, and many will set up curbside seating for those who want to drink in the street life.
   "There’s nothing quite like this festival," says Ms. Faye. "It’s a reminder that in this region, we have something absolutely unique, a market that is alive and well for over 100 years and has the freshest, most wonderful food."
The Sorrento Cheese 9th Street Italian Market Festival will take place on 9th Street from Catherine to Wharton Streets, Philadelphia, May 21-22, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free admission. For information, visit: www.9thstreetitalianmarketfestival.com