…Take the cannoli”. Are these the only cannoli you can buy on a regular basis in Auckland? Quite possibly. At times you spot these beloved Italian confections on restaurant menus (I’ve seen them at Blunderbuss on occasion), but for something you can buy on every block in many a New York, and even Melbourne neighbourhood, they’re surprisingly thin on the ground here in NZ. Probably because they’re a bit of a bitch to make. “Labour intensive, and requiring expensive ingredients”, says Gino Volante of Gino’s Italian Street Food, the man responsible for these two beauties I snaffled up at the Glenfield Night Markets last weekend. Volante makes his own ricotta-style cheese to keep down costs, but his cannoli will never be something he’s making a big profit on. Lucky us, then, because you can taste the quality in these beauties. For $5 you get a painstakingly made pastry tube crammed with pistachio and a candied citrus-filled, sweetened ricotta, one is certainly enough, but two is even better…

Look for Gino’s Italain Street Food at the Glenfield Night Market (Sundays), the New Lynn Night Market (Thursdays) and the Britomart Farmers’ Market (Saturday mornings). As well as cannoli, Volante and his girlfriend Giulia make other traditional Italian confections and, on the savoury side,  delicious panzerotti  (deep fried foccaccia-style bread filled with mozarella and salami and other yums).