Critics’ pick

Photograph: Beth Levendis

Heaven scent Some foods are best eaten, while others are better off merely looked at. We count among the latter group marzipan figurines, wedding cakes, Jordan almonds and until recently, amaretti cookies. The specimens we’ve tried in the past seduced us with their colorful wrappers, but when unsheathed, revealed themselves to be as hard and dry as biscotti; the worst offenders could have easily been mistaken for stones. In comparison, Moriondo Carlo’s amaretti cookies—which arrived last month at Formaggio Essex in the Essex Street Market and are exclusive to the store—are hardly recognizable. Soft and spongy, they practically dissolve on the tongue. Texture, however, is not the sole attraction: The cookies carry a fragrance so intense that just opening the box is akin to diving into a sea of almond extract. The smell results from only four ingredients: sugar, almonds, apricot kernels and egg whites, the same recipe the Moriondo Carlo company has been using since 1798. Moriondo Carlo is based in Mombaruzzo, a tiny town in Italy’s Piedmont region that, according to Formaggio Essex manager Max Shrem, is known for its multitudinous amaretti purevyors. The cookies, which are individually wrapped, Christmas-cracker–style, in wax paper stamped with the company’s ornate seal, are as lovely to look at as they are to eat. And the best part is, you don’t need coffee to wash them down. $9.95 per box at Formaggio Essex, Essex Street Market, 120 Essex St between Delancey and Rivington Sts (212-982-8200).

—Rebecca Flint Marx

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