Thursday, December 5, 2013

Southern Sweetooth

     "Creole confections occupy a unique position in the United States; the most popular of these is the praline.  Pralines derive their name from Marshal Luplesis-Praslin (1598-1695) and his butler's recipe for almonds coated in sugar, used as a digestive aid.  When Louisiana was settled by French colonists, native pecans were substituted for almonds.

     No lengths were spared by the Creoles to achieve perfection in candy making.  Along with their vast collection of Creole recipes, cooks had their own secret method for making the best pralines, which they guarded carefully and handed down from generation to generation.

     Today, pralines are as many and varied as they were in the very beginning."  

From recipe sheet provided by The New Orleans School of Cooking.

Vinny note:   In addition to the standard praline made with sugar and milk there are any number of flavored pralines that use such varied ingredients as chocolate, coffee, egg nog and brandy.

No comments:

Post a Comment