Hansen's Sno-Bliz

photo by Jasmine

Hansen's Sno-Bliz, Snack, New Orleans
July 27, 2016

P:
Cream of peach/Cream of coconut

J:
Cream of nectar/Satsuma


Notes:
This was our last stop during our stay in New Orleans.  Winner of a James Beard Foundation "America's Classics" award in 2014, this place was on our "must" list, and not just because it was late July in New Orleans.

Ernest Hansen is credited with inventing the first ice shaving machine for which he obtained a patent; apparently snoballs were only made by hand until then.  His wife Mary made her own line of  flavored syrups and together they began selling snoballs on the sidewalk for the "exhorbitant price" of 2 cents in 1939.  5 years later, they opened shop at the location where Hansen's still stands.

We arrived before the shop opened at 1pm, and we weren't the first (the line was out the door by the time we ordered).  There are two machines in the shop, our snoballs were made on the original.  "Machine" should be used loosely, here - quite a bit of manpower is necessary to make these things go.

So, what's a snoball?  It's just that, like a pile of snow sweetened with syrup.  It's softer than a snowcone or shaved ice, and it's less syrupy sweet than Italian ice.

I got cream of nectar and satsuma.  What's cream of nectar?  I have no idea.  I do know that is one of the original flavors, and it's almond-y and floral, and pink.  And it was perfect with the satsuma (mandarin) - a tart, citrusy flavor.  Surprisingly, these syrups weren't overly sweet, and this makes for such a refreshing treat on a hot day.  It's no wonder this place is an institution.

Patrick chose cream of peach and cream of coconut.  The peach didn't taste much like peach, he thought, and the coconut was mild in flavor, but he liked it.  Given the chance, he would like to try more flavors.  He didn't care for mine as much, but what does he know.  <wink>

If we ever find ourselves in New Orleans at the right time of year (Hansen's is only open spring through fall), we'll come back.