Angelo Brocato started his apprenticeship in a Palermo gelateria at twelve years old, which is where the recipes still used on North Carrollton Avenue come from.
He was born in Cefalù, a coastal town in Sicily, and learned granita, spumoni, biscotti, cannoli, and gelati before he was old enough to work a counter alone. Emigration brought him to Louisiana, where he cut sugar cane long enough to save a stake. In 1905 he opened his own parlor in the section of the French Quarter people called Little Palermo, built as a replica of the emporiums he had trained in and one of the first sit-down parlors in the city.
The very first flavor he sold is still in the case. Torroncino is a vanilla-based gelato with cinnamon and ground almonds, and the shop has produced it without interruption for 120 years. He also made granita al limone with local citrus, and Italian families in the Quarter would come by early with warm bread to dip in it for breakfast…