A Sweet Treat

     New Orleans is known for many unique and famous foods.  I have spent some time previously detailing some of them, like the muffaletta and the Po'boy Sandwiches, jambalaya, and roux, the base for several other iconic foods of The Big Easy.  But today I am going to write about somethng that is synonymous with New Orleans itself, the praline.  It is a creamy confection that can be found sold by street vendors and in high end shops alike.  And like many other of the Cresent City's originals, is not limited to just a single recipe but has been re-created in a variety of ways.

     The history of the praline is subject to different opinions.  But most would agree that it did not originate in Louisiana or in the Americas at all for that matter.  It was first created in 17th Century France by the chef of Marshal du Flessis-Praslin, a wealthy sugar industrialist.  It combined almonds and caramelized sugar and became a very popular sweet treat for the citizenry as you might expect.

     As the New World was being settled and the Louisiana Purchase in particular, French immigrants brought the praline recipe along with them and continued the practice of melting sugar to coat almonds.  But in the South pecans were far more prevalent than almonds and were soon a familiar substitution.  New Orleans chefs eventually added cream or buttermilk to the heated mixture and a new derivation was created.

     So in America the praline became distinct, differing from the European version.  They have a creamy consistency similar to that of fudge and are made by combining sugar (usually brown), butter, pecans, and cream in a large pot and heated while being stirred constantly until most of the water has evaporated.  When the gooey substance has reached a thick texture and brown color it is dropped one spoonful at a time onto wax paper to cool.

    The popularity of the praline is evident throughout New Orleans as you can see by these photos taken during my culinary research there in May.

     Many other recipes now include the term praline in their name in an attempt to associate with this sweet treat.  You can find the praline name with ice cream, cookies, cheesecake, sauce, sweet potatoes and even bacon!