I'm not a particularly big fan of Emporio Rulli's pastries. Well, actually, I should back up.
I don't care for many types of pastries in general. For example, while I love a proper croissant, I don't like most of the filled ones, and I don't care for danishes and the like. Similarly, I don't care for most canneles, rumbabas, cannolis, or tarts with custard. And fruit-filled stuff... well I generally find them far too pectin-y and sweet to be enjoyable.
So when I happened upon the sour cherry boat at the Emporio Rulli in the International Terminal at SFO a couple of years ago, I nearly started weeping. It's loaded with real fruit - not cooked down, pectined-to-within-an-inch-of-its-life "filling" - that is mouth-puckeringly tart but with just enough sweetness to take the edge off. The pastry is flaky, puffy, not greasy but still buttery. Really, near perfect.
I didn't tell anyone about the sour cherry boats because, frankly, I didn't want to share. And they were available soooo sporadically. Every time I flew (which is generally around 50K/year, domestically), I loyally made my way to ER to see if they had the elusive sour cherry boat. When they had 'em, I bought several. When they didn't, I walked away empty-handed, and feeling deflated.
This morning, after a looooong hiatus, the sour cherry boats were there. But this time, I only bought one. I nearly bought two... but I tempered myself, and reminded myself of the 15lbs I've shed so far. Would the second one taste as good as the first? Could I prolong the delight of the first one by savoring it more slowly? I was determined to try.
I took 2.5 hours to finish that pastry. And damned if it wasn't worth it. I felt like I had eaten two, without the caloric commitment.