PRAW-LEENS

Please do not say pray-leens! These little intoxicating mixtures of cream, sugar and pecans are called pralines (praw-leens). A little yummy delight that offers sweetness, rich in history, and is a perfect off-spring of New Orleans. Free women of color, who sold pralines on the streets of the city, were called "praliniers". Fresh made from their kitchen, they would be kept cool in the steamy heat of New Orleans, with fanning motions from palmetto leaves, only to make the sugary treats more desirable!

Today you can find pralines everywhere even in the quick-stops and at most cash registers at gas stations. But it is nothing like coming across Mr. George Clark, selling his pralines from a rigged crate strung around his shoulders. He always wore his Panama hat calling out "number one, one dollar"...Who could resist those sweet pralines? I hope he is still selling them around Canal and Carondelet Street. What a great way to spend your life, selling sweets on the streets of New Orleans!

There's many recipes out there but my favorite is the classic sugar, cream and pecans. Be willing to put time in for practice batches, the sugary treats can be testy! My last batch turn to rocks!

A fun place to sneak a peek of cooking pralines is Aunt Sally's at 810 Decatur. They sell many varieties and have been making pralines for a long time in the Quarter. One more great place is Tee-Eva's on Magazine, 5201. Tee-Eva's is true soul. Years ago I was at an art opening on Magazine and she was jamming with the band. She is the real deal. Her business has been passed to her granddaughter, who now keeps the tradition alive. She makes great pies too!

"L'esperienza de questa dolce vita." Italian for "The experience of the sweet life." Dante...Italian poet 1261-1321

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all." Laura Ingalls Wilder