On the morning I meet up with them for a culinary tour, Carla, 48, and Christine, 51, are fresh from the “Today’’ show, where they made a squid ink dish for Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb. The next day they are to film a segment with Mary Anne Esposito of PBS’s “Ciao Italia’’ and are in search of local ingredients to perk up a veal dish.
Food tours of the North End are a cottage industry, but few are as personal and participatory as the one these sisters embark on daily. “This is what we do. We walk, we eat, we eat some more,’’ says Christine, who oversees Nebo’s kitchen.
No matter what time of year you visit the North End, it’s always festive, but Saturdays, when tastings abound, are particularly alluring. Inside Salumeria Italiana, on the lesser-trod Richmond Street, the weekend bustle is at full tilt.
The totems of Italian cuisine are everywhere here: giant wheels of cheeses, imported olive oils. Men dressed in pressed deli whites with nametags stand ready to offer up an authentic taste from the old country.
A handsome cheesemonger lays some caciotta al tratufo (pecorino with black truffle) on the sisters and they swoon over its pristine, yet smoky flavor. In the corner, as in a mirage from a Sicilian piazza, the store’s founder, Erminio Martignetti, dapper in a cap and sport coat, keeps watch from a folding chair.
Taking a shine to Christine, Martignetti, 89, asks several times if she is married. She keeps him at bay with a chuckle and a flash of her sharp green eyes.
This specialty shop is no secret to Boston chefs. The anchovy oil is a favorite of Lydia Shire, says Alison Arnett, the store’s culinary consultant. The owner of Scampo and Towne Stove and Spirits also picks up pappardelle and gluten-free pasta from this overflowing spot.
The sisters buy cheese and antipasto, chef’s snacks, and are stopped on the way out the door. “I want you, before you leave, to try this olive oil,’’ says an employee. “Ummmm,’’ Carla coos after tossing back a spoonful of the newly harvested Sicilian gold.
Personal attention follows the Pallottas, and they enjoy mixing business with pleasure with the merchants here.
