A sno-ball is a Louisiana confection made with finely

shaved ice Shaved ice is a large family of ice-based desserts made of fine shavings of ice or finely crushed ice and sweet condiments or syrups. Usually, the syrup is added after the ice has been frozen and shaved—typically at the point of sale; however, ...

and flavored sugar

syrup In cooking, a syrup (less commonly sirup; from ar, شراب; , beverage, wine and la, sirupus) is a condiment that is a thick, viscous liquid consisting primarily of a solution of sugar in water, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars ...

. Commonly confused with the snow cone, the ice of a sno-ball is fine and fluffy; while a snow cone's ice is coarse, crunchy, and granular. Moreover, whereas in a snow cone the flavored syrup sinks to the bottom of the cup, in a sno-ball the ice absorbs the syrup. Sno-balls are a seasonal treat as they are generally sold only from roughly March to October. They are vended from "sno-ball stands" throughout parts of Louisiana,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

History

Before the 1930s ice was manually scraped from a block of ice, producing a coarser, crunchier version of the sno-ball. In 1933, Ernest Hansen began work on an ice-shaving machine; and by 1934, he had invented the first motor-driven ice-shaving machine. For two years, Hansen kept the machine within his family, making sno-balls for only his children and relatives. In 1936, Ernest and his wife Mary took their machine to the streets of New Orleans and opened Hansen's Sno-Bliz. The business ran discontinuously for the following two years because Mary needed to care for her children. In 1939, they opened the shop and remained in business for the next 67 years. By this time, grocer George Ortolano had invented his own ice-shaving machine, which he later called the Sno-Wizard. Ortolano redeveloped his wooden machine into one made of galvanized metal after he began receiving requests from people who wanted to use his machine to start their own businesses. Soon thereafter, he drew up blueprints for his machine and set his product into automated production. Ortolano's Sno-Wizards are now the primary sno-ball machines used in Louisiana and throughout the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coast, coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states that have a shor ...

Flavors

The following list contains many of the sno-ball flavors available at sno-ball stands around New Orleans. * Almond * Banana * Bahama Mama * Blackberry * Blue Bubble Gum * Blueberry * Blue Raspberry * Buttered popcorn * Cake batter * Cherry * Chocolate * Coconut * Coffee * Cotton Candy * Cream soda * Dreamsicle * Daiquiri * French vanilla * Grape * Green apple * Hawaiian Punch * Ice cream * Joker * Key lime pie * King cake * Kiwi * Lemon * Lemon-ice * Lemon-lime * Lime * Margarita * Nectar * Orange * Orchid vanilla * Peach * Peanut butter * Piña colada * Pineapple * Pink lemonade * Raspberry * Rocket 88 * Root beer * Silver fox * Spearmint * Strawberry * Tamarind * Tangerine * Tiger's blood * Tutti frutti * Vanilla malt * Watermelon * Wedding cake

Variations

* Cheesecake Stuffed Snowball: created by Sno-La Snowballs, the snowball is stuffed with cheesecake in the center, surrounded by the snowball flavor of choice. *Stuffed sno-ball: a sno-ball stuffed with vanilla or chocolate softserve ice cream * Cream-flavored sno-ball: a sno-ball made with flavored syrup mixed with evaporated milk * Sugar-free sno-ball: a sno-ball made with sugar-free syrup * Toppings: soft-serve ice cream, condensed milk, marshmallow fluff, Oreos

References

External links

{{portalbar, Food Cuisine of New Orleans Ice-based desserts

History

Flavors

Variations

References

Further reading

External links