I have joyous news for the three other Italian-Americans living in the state of Texas. There is a bakery in Dallas that–and I can’t believe I am typing these words–sells pusties.
Pusties! In Texas, FFS! I mean, it’s hard enough to get a good eggplant parm in Texas, let alone pusties.
Pusties, for those whose surnames do not end in a vowel, are custard-filled pastries found throughout the Italian province of Puglia (where my ancestors are from) and, more importantly, throughout my beloved hometown of Utica, NY.
I published my laboriously home-tested recipes for pusties here, and it has been far and away the most popular post I’ve ever written–although my Tomato Pie post is a close second.
The Dallas bakery that sells pusties (or “pasticciotto,” as it is formally called) is Palmieri Cafe.
As you can see from the photo, Palmieri’s pusties are the traditional oval shape found in Puglia, Italy–as opposed to the fluted tart shape favored by Utica’s bakeries.
#PROTIP: Pusty tins are available for purchase from my friends at NJ Flihan & Co. (hey David!).
I’ve not been to Palmieri myself yet, but my wife has and she reports that they are almost as good as those served by Utica, NY’s Florentine Pastry Shop–the bakery that, in my 100% correct opinion, makes the finest pusties on the planet.
She also said that Palmieri’s pusties are “obscenely large”–because, you know, everything is bigger in Texas.
