Another Reason to Love New Orleans

by Kevin Planchet, Literacy AmeriCorps New Orleans
Saturday, 17 July 2010 10:02

Isn’t it just like New Orleanians to do it our way. We can’t wait around for Mother Nature to send us snow, so we make our own, but with a twist. The warm weather wouldn’t be the same without the local delicacy called the snoball. And that’s ‘sno’ without the ‘w’, another characteristic which makes us unique. Other states certainly enjoy their shaved ice or snow cones, but it was New Orleans where the first machine was invented to give us the soft ice we enjoy now.

The first frozen treats date back to the Roman Empire, but up until the early twentieth century, the ice was shaved by hand, or chipped. In 1934 Ernest Hansen of New Orleans gave us the Hansen Ice Shaving Machine. Though there have been many imitations, the Hansen machine is still the standard for the industry, and for good reason; it’s the best!

Snoball flavors have grown beyond strawberry and grape to include wedding cake, peach and rainbow. If these flavors alone aren’t sweet enough, trying pouring condensed milk over the top. It’s enough to put you into diabetic shock! (If you are a diabetic, you can get them sugar free.) A favorite of the juice box set is the addition of gummi bears to their snoball, with flavors which follow their best loved television characters, like Hannah Montana and Dora the Explorer.

If for some incredible reason you’ve managed to get through your AmeriCorps year without standing in line in the heat for our favorite cold delicacy, there are several stands just waiting for your business. My personal favorite is Van’s Snoballs on General Meyer in Algiers, but if you like the uptown area, try Plum Street Snoballs. In Gentilly, there’s the Original New Orleans Snoball Stand on Elysian Fields near Brother Martin High School. You’re not a true New Orleanian until you have the syrup of a brightly colored snoball staining the carpet in your car.