Notable New Orleanians: A Tricentennial Tribute

a candy made of sugar and almonds. Chef
Lassagne made candy for the French Marshall
and Diplomat Cesar du Plessis-Praslin, and he
named it in his honor a Praline. As French
emigrants arrived in New Orleans in the
1700s, they brought their family recipes along,
and modified them to embrace local ingredients.
Local sugarcane replaced the European
sugar beets, pecans replaced almonds, and in
the early days of our nation both French
Creole and African American cooks created
new, American versions of the confectionary.
The recipes were closely guarded and passed
down from generation to generation in many
families, including the Bagurs.
As early as the 1800s, pralines were part of
the New Orleans culinary scene, sold in the
French Quarter by street vendors known as
vendeuses. They were enterprising women who
made and sold goods during the pre- and post-
Civil War economy for extra income to support
their families. When the Bagurs opened their
first praline shop in 1935, they selected a name
for the business that reflected qualities and
characteristics which they admired. The Bagurs
chose the name “Aunt Sally’s”, not for a specific
person, but rather as homage to vendeuses, the
hard-working African American women of their
era. The name is meant to represent the
American entrepreneurial spirit, and to honor
the expertise needed to prepare mouthwatering
Creole recipes such as pralines.
Aunt Sally’s pralines are created from a
short list of quality ingredients, starring
Louisiana pecans, cane sugar, milk, and butter.
They are cooked over open flame in large,
bowl-shaped copper pots that conduct heat
most evenly; and the temperature at various
stages of the process must be exact for the
praline to be perfect. The cook stirs the hot
liquid for approximately thirty minutes, and
when the mixture is the right temperature,
vanilla and other flavors are appropriately
added to each recipe. Cooks stir the pots vigorously
in order to incorporate the proper
amount of air as the candy cooks. When the
moment is right, they pull the pots off the
stove and hand pour the pralines onto parchment
paper, which sits on either cool marble
slabs or a stainless steel table.
Which is the correct pronunciation of
these delicate crispy, creamy treats: Prah-leens
or Pray-leens? Recipes vary from creamy-tochewy-to-everything
in between, and pralines
are now known throughout the South from
Dallas to D.C. And not a lot of words get pronounced
the same way in Dallas and D.C!
Even if you cannot get to New Orleans, Aunt
Sally’s delicious pralines are available at
auntsallys.com anytime you feel the urge to
satisfy your sweet tooth with a taste of
southern hospitality. As to the correct pronunciation,
in New Orleans we never say
“pray-leen,” but you can say whatever you
want as long as you say “Aunt Sally’s” first!
Below: Robin McClendon.
THE MARKETPLACE
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