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Thread: "That's a good Cookie"

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,890

    Default "That's a good Cookie"

    One of my old Italian customers drove up to the store yesterday in his
    old, white El Camino. The one where he rebuilt the entire drivetrain and
    installed a Fuel Injected Corvette Engine into. Looks stock from the
    outside, down to the cruddy factory hupcaps and well-worn paint. Tony
    always has been a character, and he ALWAYS has a story.

    He's old school....he was old school before there even was an old school. That's how old school he is.

    Right now I have a master carver working on a Phoenix for him to place atop a very valuable period mirror. Tony says "Ya know Duane, make sure this carver gets this bird right, willya? He should look really pissed off, and be a mess. Coming out of a fire n' all. Give him some Attitude, with a capital "A", don't make him look like some farm-bred Turkey".

    So Tony comes up to me and hands me a small white box of cookies and
    says 'Merry Christmas!' I say "Well thank you very much Tony, most
    appreciated" and I go to place them on the desk and he SNATCHES them
    away from me and with a twinkle in his eye he says "These are Termini
    Brothers Cookies".

    I cautiously reply: " You say that like I should know the name??"

    Tony quips: "These are not for kids. This is a REAL cookie. The
    finest Italian cookies in America. To get a better cookie than this,
    you have to go to Sicily."

    I look at the box. Plain, white, a hand-tied manila string wrapped
    around it and a small label that says "Termini Bros. Since 1921" There
    are no ingredient labels, no UPC code, no saucy descriptions, no
    WARNING: CONTAINS NUTS, none of that. Just a plain label with the store
    addresses, thats it.

    "Tell me about these cookies, Tony". I egg him on, knowing damn well
    he's going to tell me the story whether I want to hear it or not. But I
    do. I love old school stories.

    Tony starts up:

    "Cookies are very important to the Italian People. A man is judged by
    how good a cookie he serves to his guests - its a point of honor. Have
    you ever been to an Italian wedding? A REAL Italian wedding? Well, if
    you had you would know that the guests give hundreds, sometimes
    thousands of dollars to the bride and groom - its traditional. We have
    a lot of good traditions other than those Mafia bastards that came over
    from Sicily - and the point is, if you have guests giving your children
    money at there wedding, you don't serve them a crap cookie. Crappy
    cookies are everywhere. And the talk about you if you serve them those crappy Italian cookies. So you don't do that.

    You serve them Termini Bros. cookies. Now you have class. Now you show them that you care. And if you want fresh Termini Bros. cookies you have to drive to Philly to get them. This time of year, there is a 2-hour wait
    to get in the door, but its not all bad - they put a Italian band out on
    the street to play and serve hot drinks. The line goes around the block.
    I drive up every year and buy thirty boxes, then deliver them the next
    day. They get pissed at me for getting so many at one time, but I've
    been doing it for forty years now and they know I come up this time
    every year. Now when you go home and eat these cookies, have a cup of
    coffee and set aside a little time to enjoy it. Don't pop one in your
    mouth while you're running out to do errands. Savor the cookies. And
    the best one is the Pignoli, I'll tell you that right up front. Best
    cookie in the world - made from the finest ingredients."

    There was a lot more, but you get the gist of it

    Took the box home and we opened up after dinner. I selected the
    Pignoli, just as Tony told me to. I took a small bite, to savor it. OH
    MY.....OH MY! That's a damn fine cookie. I took another bite. That
    might be the finest and best cookie I've ever had in my life. My son
    agreed - but what does he know, he's only 16! An amazing treat. If
    you're ever in Philly, I think you should go try some.

    They have a website, and apparently they ship. Not cheap. But the good
    stuff never is.

    http://www.termini.com

    FYI, from now on I can be bribed with Termini Bros. cookies.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  2. #2
    artielange Guest

    Default Re: "That's a good Cookie"

    OK, now you've piqued my interest. I've asked my niece in Philly to bring home a box of macaroons for Christmas. We'll see if this bakery is as good as you say!

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