Cones: Not Just for Ice Cream Anymore

by Jason Best, Posted Aug 23rd 2010 @ 2:00PM

The pizza cone is coming to American shores. Our big question: how did the Italians beat us to this one?

True, pizza itself originated in Italy, but in the century or so since "tomato pie" made its debut stateside, it's Americans who have been at the forefront of perfecting how to eat it on the go (along with pretty much every other food).

Yet the pizza cone hails from Milan. It's ingenious, really -- not so much as a great conceptual leap but for the way it blends a lot of what's already out there (pizza pockets, calzones, all manner of wraps) into an even more perfect form. If you've ever stood in a crowded New York pizzeria and folded your slice in half for easier eating, you're liable to look at the pizza cone, slap your forehead and go, "D'oh! Why didn't I think of that?"

Made from a "proprietary dough," the pizza cone promises drip-free, spill-free enjoyment of what is essentially an inside-out slice of pizza, but its makers, Cono Italiano, aren't stopping there.

More after the jump ...

According to its website (which, somehow, we can't help reading without hearing the voice of Roberto Benigni), the company envisions all sorts of things in their patented cone: bacon and eggs, sausage and peppers, etc.

Of course, it was Americans who pioneered the use of the cone to transform another messy, unwieldy food into a portable delight -- perhaps the cone's 100-plus-year association with ice cream is about to be challenged.

Filed Under: New Products
Tags: cono italiano, ConoItaliano, pizza cone, PizzaCone