Until last week, I’d never heard of spumoni. Maybe you have and are saying, in a very stereotypical New York Italian voice, “This guy’s never had spumoni? Are you kiddin’ me?” Or, more likely, you haven’t heard of it either.

Spumoni is an Italian gelato dessert typically made of pistachio, chocolate and cherry ice cream. It’s my friend’s favorite ice cream flavor, and his birthday was coming up, so I thought: perfect gift. Unfortunately, after calling 57 ice cream places (no, I will not call them creameries), only three had even heard of it. 

First was a guy who owns a store in Princeton, New Jersey, who answered my call with a convincing “Waddaya want?” He said spumoni is a Brooklyn thing. My friend says it’s from Naples, but he’s from Missouri, where he used to get it from grocery stores by the gallon. Nothing made sense. I drove to Jersey, but that guy on the phone lied, and I was left spumoni-less.

The hunt continued and brought me to a shop in Westfield, New Jersey. A worker told me people come from all over for their spumoni. By all over, I think she meant Plainfield, South Plainfield and Springfield, which are all 15 minutes from Westfield, since, when I said I came from Philadelphia, she responded with a concerned, “Oh.” 

Their spumoni? Not ice cream. No, they have creamed ice. At this point, I questioned if spumoni ever really existed or if it was just a fever dream shared by Italian uncles and Midwesterners.

Then, after 57 phone calls, four hours of driving and saying “spumoni” so much I still hear it in my sleep, I found it. A tiny homemade ice cream shop in North Jersey. Pistachio. Chocolate. Cherry. All present. All correct. I tried a sample. 

It was okay.

So, why did I do this? Because friendship is everything? Because I know he would do the same for me? Because my car is fuel efficient? No. I did it because I thought it would be funny. But those reasons sound way better. Happy birthday to my pal.