Recently, I went to the grand opening of a new frozen yogurt shop in town. I walked in and saw the sign on the wall for Italian Ices. My mind immediately traveled back to the Italian neighborhood where my grandparents had lived in the Bronx when I was young. My eyes traveled down the list of flavors. I grimaced at the new flavors such as bubblegum, peach mango, kiwi, and cotton-candy. “Not original Italian Ices flavors,” I thought. Then I spotted the last flavor on the list: Lilly With Nuts. Wow! I thought. I haven’t heard of Lilly With Nuts since I was a kid in Da Bronx!
Yummy Flavors
“Lilly With Nuts?” I asked the teenager behind the counter. She said she had no idea what it was, but then her father stepped forward to say, “It’s delicious! I have it brought up every couple of days from the manufacturer in the Bronx!” Then we proceeded to have a conversation about “Da Bronx” past and present. I discovered that he was born and grew up just a few blocks away from my grandparent’s house near Morris Park Avenue. His Lilly With Nuts is made at an Italian Bakery near there. As we talked, I remembered walking to Morris Park Avenue during hot summers in the 1950s with my brother or friends just to taste the wonderful, refreshing Lilly With Nuts.
I had to have it and asked for a small cup. I tasted my Lilly With Nuts and savored the creamy, cold, and sweet delicious flavor. There was a hint of cardamon or cinnamon and vanilla, with slivers of almonds throughout the icy mush. It was a real taste of my youthful days! :-)
After I asked several people, I discovered that only people from the Bronx had ever heard of this unusual flavor. I also looked on the Internet, which confirmed that this was an exclusive taste from the Bronx. A quote from a New York Times article states, “One of the more unusual flavors, lily with nuts, is a Bronx invention of vanilla, rum and slivered almonds”.
A web-page entitled “The Bronx Board – for displaced, misplaced, and nostalgic ex-Bronxites” explained: “I was in the Bronx today, Morris Park Avenue, and stopped by Enrico’s Bakery for an ice. I could not believe that the old Bronx standard flavor Lilly With Nuts was still sold there. It was delicious and brought back memories of Lambiase’s ices on Castle Hill. I may be wrong but I think that Lilly With Nuts is only sold in the Bronx. No one else seems to know about it but Bronxites.”
Amazing! I decided to return to the source of Lilly With Nuts and drove to Morris Park Avenue in the Bronx. As I cruised down the avenue, I found Enrico’s Bakery. A large paper sign prominently displayed in the window stated: REAL ITALIAN ICES. When I entered the shop I inhaled deeply the scents of freshly baked breads, cakes, and cookies. I ordered a small cup of Lilly With Nuts and asked the young server if she knew the ingredients. She didn’t, so I just smiled as I paid. I thanked her and walked off into the sunlight with my genuine, right-from-the source, authentic Morris Park Avenue Lilly With Nuts! Ahhhhh youth…….
