So last night, while tooling around the North End of Boston at the
St. Anthony's Feast, a cry of great despair echoed through the city. It came from me, if you must know. If we didn't get to
Modern Pastry soon, they would be out of lobster tails again and we would return home with much sadness and no pastries.
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Dudes, it's filled with diplomat cream--a marriage of pastry cream and whipped cream.
Also known as heaven in a crunchy pastry shell.
Only get them from Modern Pastry, though.
No one else does them correctly. Trust me on this. [source]
Also, not my hand. Who can get anything done with nails like that? |
We pushed by slow-moving families with carriages and baby detritus;* we threw ourselves in front of cars to cross streets.**
Success! Pastries purchased, no immediate deaths resulting. We wandered, contented with our future satiation,*** moseying to the park where
Paul Revere sits atop his mighty steed, which sits atop a mighty block of granite.****
Naturally, a cigar was necessary, so Valentino reached into the pocket of his Tommy Bahama shirt and produced a
Perdomo 20th Anniversary.
This particular stick has been lounging in the humidor, basking in the goodness of perfect humidity and even temperature for ages. We can't remember if it was last fall or the spring before that when we attended a Perdomo dinner with the great
Roy Kirby, courtesy of
Paul Joyle of
Mr. J's Havana Shop and his mad party-planning skills.****
So when he selected this baby***** for the great ride to the big city, the Gordo (6 x 60) with a sun-grown wrapper and Nicaraguan filler and wrapper was good to go. One of the many joys that came with this smoke--besides the amazeballs flavor profile of creaminess and earthiness and coffeeness (yes, it is a word) with just a teeny tiny bit of pepperiness, a perfect second-hand smoke for the delicious raspberry sandwich cookie, which happened to be occupying all the rest of my senses.
According to
CI, "Perdomo 20th Anniversary celebrates this rich, family history of Nicaraguan handmades. Each cigar employs bold, Cuban-seed long-fillers grown throughout Nicaragua's black, volcanic soils. Top-priming tobaccos from Esteli, Jalapa, and Condega....patiently aged and skillfully blended to perfection. But then there's the wrapper. Where the fun really happens. Nicaraguan, Cuban-seed sun-grown wrappers from the highest priming, extra-fermented, cedar-aged, then barrel-aged in old bourbon barrels for 14+ months prior to being applied. A gentle box-press is the finishing touch to this impressive Nicaraguan puro."
As a side note, I've always been super impressed with
Perdomo, from the very moment I met Mr. Kirby****** and he waved the 20th Anniversary before my starry eyes. Then he lit it, so, yeah... I was a goner. The brand represents high quality and class, which is further exemplified by their
outstanding website, filled with
education,
behind-the-scenes action, and a serious collection of
events. Spend some time there. Learn things. Go to your local tobacconist and prove me correct about the 20th Anniversary. I'll buy you a cookie if you do.
And! To make this all come full circle, and to tease you about a party I still haven't gotten around to writing about, Caballero #2 gave Valentino this as a birthday gift last week.******* Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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| It's gorgeous in real life. We almost don't want to muck it up! Almost. [source] |
And thank you, Perdomo, for this amazing end-of-the-night smoke. A great way to bid adieu to a season of Italian festivals. Now the countdown to my birthday commences! Consider yourself warned!
*Why, exactly, were these kids out so late? Just curious.
**Me. I live by the "Pedestrians always have the right of way" mantra. Valentino does not and, as a result, frequently grabs my arm to save me from myself. Reminder: He's not a native New Englander.
***A cookie the size of my head also may have left the shop with us. No way would I be able to wait for sweet goodness until we got home. Hahaha. No.
****Valentino brought up the cool historical significance of the park in which we sat, right near the Old North Church. One if by land and two if by sea and all that. As a native Massachusetts resident, I looked around, remembering that the place has more social significance than a good place to eat midnight snacks and (second-hand) smoke delicious cigars. I feel like I should go read a history book. Or at least a Wikipedia entry.
*****His monthly cigar dinner events are about to start up again for the season. You should come and join us and have a rip-roaring good time!! Call the shop and ask for more details! (We'll even let you sit with us if you're up for a spot of crazy!)
*****Probably the wrong word to use, since he would soon light it on fire.
******The fact that I used "Mr." should be quite telling.
*******Along with a ton of other things. The Cabelleros' gift giving is getting out of hand. But who's complaining?
