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My wife always knows when business takes me to downtown Springfield. Afterward, our freezer is crammed with bags of frozen tortellini, the refrigerator stocked with bright green Cerignola olives, homemade sopressatas, salamis and fresh sausages, and the pantry refilled with dried chestnuts and cans and boxes with Italian labels. I visit the Italian markets of the South End as often as I can and I am never disappointed.

Springfield’s South End is the former Italian section of the city, and some businesses still reflect that heritage. When you stumble into a pocket of the Old Country that is alive and well, you walk in parallel universes ‘ times long past and the present ‘ as if you were in some science fiction novel.

Springfield’s South End is down Main Street, south past the Mass Mutual Center. You’ll know you are there when the businesses, law firms and Spanish stores are sprinkled with Italian restaurants and groceries. Parking is easy on the side streets, although most of them are one-way in the opposite direction you want to go. You can park, spend some time shopping at the various markets, grab some pizza at the Red Rose Pizzeria, an espresso and pastry at the original La Fiorentina’s, maybe some Italian ices at Albano’s Market, and, if you’ve thought to bring a cooler for your booty, have a meal in one of the restaurants before heading home. They are all within walking distance of each other and you’ll appreciate a couple of blocks’ walk to work off all that noshing.

FRIGO’S GOURMET FOODS at 90 William St. is the mother lode of Italian delis. It keeps the traditional foods available while adding modern touches. There is another Frigo’s on Main Street, but it is newer and I’ve never been in it. Frigo’s does a great lunch trade and as soon as you walk in, your eyes will likely be drawn to the large deli counter to your right. All manner of sandwiches are available, from combinations of capicola, prosciutto, salami and Asiago cheese to meatball, sausage and various Parmesans. Some are Boar’s Head and others imported brands. The deli case is packed with salads, cooked broccoli rabe, seafood salad, breaded chicken and eggplant cutlets, chicken cordon bleu, shiitake mushroom ’sandwiches,’ caprese salads and more. You can pick up a container of what looks good, eat some for lunch and take the rest home. Frigo’s tends to have a more liberal touch with olive oil than is currently popular, but olive oil is practically a health food, right?

There is a large selection of olives. I recommend the Cerignolas, a shockingly bright green olive that is fresh tasting and not at all salty or tart. You can get hot cherry peppers stuffed with cheese and prosciutto. There is a small meat counter with beautiful veal cutlets just crying out for a special dinner. Homemade sausages look homemade and taste wonderful. A small cheese cooler stocks Italian cheeses, as you would expect, but these are a cut above the cheeses with the same names at your local supermarket. Shelves are filled with Italian pastas, preserves and packaged pastries and there are always little surprises on one counter or another. There is a pile of fresh peasant-style bread near the checkout.

I was first taken to Frigo’s by a woman whose aunt and uncle used to run one of the local restaurants. While we were waiting for our sandwiches, she filled a basket with treasures, and added half a dozen salads and prepared foods from the deli counter. I passed along the favor by taking another friend there for lunch. A former restaurant manager now managing Web designers, she tells me she now eats at Frigo’s once a week or more.

Frigo’s does catering and I see its foods at various events. It also has specialty foods during the Christmas and Easter seasons. Frigo’s will be closed for vacation July 31 through mid-August, so take that into account when you plan your visit.

MOM AND RICO’S at 899 Main St. is an Old World grocery ‘ but an Old World grocery that takes debit cards.

The store is festooned with bocce and Italian soccer paraphernalia. There’s a small deli counter and, during lunch, a buffet. However, Mom and Rico’s boasts a larger grocery than Frigo’s, and is stocked with items that are not to be missed. Cans, jars and packages of European foodstuffs, of course, and bulk coffee and spices. But the freezer cases are filled with packages of homemade tortellini (nutmeggy cheese, meat, spinach and gorgonzola, to name a few). Buy more than you think you’ll want; you’ll appreciate your forethought in a couple of weeks when you find a bag in your freezer.

Mom and Rico’s freezer case boasted tripe and rabbit the last time I was there and the refrigerator cases held containers of homemade marinara sauce. The buffet, priced at $4.99 per pound, can be eaten there (a restaurant is attached) or taken away for later. The broccoli rabe is sweet and tender, oily and garlicky, no small feat since the green tends to be bitter in the hands of lesser cooks.

ALBANO’S MARKET at 1167 East Columbus Ave. is a small grocery with a secret. My office manager, Amy, grew up in the area, and went to Our Lady of Mount Carmel school just down the block from Frigo’s. Many of the places she remembered are now closed and her mom shops for sausages at a place in East Longmeadow.

But Amy told me that during recess, she and her friends would head to Albano’s Market for Italian ices. ‘The best ever’ were her exact words. I had to see for myself.

When I stopped in at Albano’s, two women of a certain age were reminiscing with the woman behind the ices cooler and a man holding a tray of freshly made Italian ice. I tried the lemon, which was slushy and clearly homemade. Amy was right. The lemon ices were intensely lemony without being bitter or sharp, sweet without being cloying, and the texture was perfect. I bought Amy a pint by way of thanks. Try the ices. You’ll thank Amy, too.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2007 at 10:33 pm and is filed under Pioneer Valley Markets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.