DiCosmo's Italian Ice turns 110: The story behind a small business with a big legacy
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Caesar salad, invented in Mexico by Italian immigrants, is still pleasing palates after 100 years
Caesar salad has something to celebrate: It's turning 100. In the U.S., 35% of U.S. restaurants have Caesar salad on their menus. (Scripps News)
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On Wednesday, June 4, the family celebrated more than a century's worth of success.
DiCosmo's Italian Ice will give one small free Italian ice away to one customer for 110 days, until Sept. 22.
More than a century ago, southern Italian immigrants Giovanni and Caterina DiCosmo decided to offer a taste of their homeland in their new community of Elizabeth, New Jersey, when they started selling lemon Italian ice, a take on granita, which is a Sicilian frozen treat.
They knew it would help their neighbors cool down during the particularly hot summer of 1915. What they didn't know was that 110 years later, their great-granddaughter Eileen DiCosmo O'Connor would keep their legacy alive just south in the city of Metuchen.
DiCosmo's Italian Ice opened its seasonal shop five years ago, a sister store to the Elizabeth location. On Wednesday, June 4, the Metuchen store celebrated the brand's storied, 110-year history with $1.10 small cups of Italian ice.
It was also the first day that DiCosmo's Italian Ice will give one small free Italian ice away to a different customer each day for 110 days, until Sept. 22. For a chance to win, customers should follow DiCosmo's Italian Ice on Facebook or Instagram, or subscribe to email updates on its website. Each day, the shop will randomly select one of the followers or subscribers.
'I'm surprised that this little seasonal business selling this niche item has endured,' said O'Connor, the fourth-generation co-owner of DiCosmo's Italian Ice. 'I'm really proud. I know we have a great product and we wouldn't be here without our customers. I appreciate that for generations, they keep wanting more.'
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Despite the many decades that have passed since the DiCosmos first created a recipe simply using fresh-squeezed lemon juice, sugar and water, the way that the shop makes the Italian ice today is the same as it was 110 years ago. So are the ingredients.
DiCosmo's Italian Ice uses real fruit, including local strawberries, peaches and apples when they're in season. By using real fruit, corn syrup and extra sugar are not needed, so the ice isn't overly sweet.
Only five gallons are made at a time, and only eight flavors are offered at any time — always kept at a precise temperature and with minimal exposure to air — so ice never sits for more than 48 hours.
'When ice sits, the ice crystals grow and has a different mouthfeel,' said O'Connor. 'Because it's fresh, the ice crystals stay small and has that melt-in-your-mouth burst in flavor.'
The original lemon flavor, as well as the pina colada, mango and cherry flavors, are always available. The other four slots are filled by rotating flavors based on the season.
Flavors have included lime mint, dragon fruit pineapple, strawberry guava and lavender haze, in honor of when a Taylor Swift tribute artist performed in the borough.
The Metuchen shop is open seasonally based on the weather, which means that it sometimes opens early if there's a warm week in April or stays open through October if it's a hot fall.
The Elizabeth shop was recently sold to new owners, although the DiCosmos shared their recipes and methods with them. It will open on a to-be-announced date.
After DiCosmo's Italian Ice founders Giovanni and Caterina DiCosmo retired in the 1900s, they passed the business down to their son, Alfred, and his wife Agnes, a talented cook. She developed additional flavors for the shop, while Alfred, a welder, mechanized the hand crank machines to reduce the manufacturing time and increase production.
They passed it on to their son, John, and his wife Nancy, who transformed the business from a small seasonal hobby into a modern business with extended hours and modernized manufacturing.
O'Connor, their daughter, now co-runs the shop alongside her husband Mike O'Connor. She hopes that one day, the fifth generation of her family will continue the DiCosmo's Italian Ice tradition.
'I hope that one of my kids takes the shop over one day,' O'Connor said. 'There are 14 grandchildren, so if not mine, then maybe some of the cousins.'
Go: 20 New St., Metuchen, New Jersey, 732-243-9328, dicosmos.com.
Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey since 2014. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. You can also follow her on Instagram at @seejennaeat and on Twitter at @JIntersimone.
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