Loretta's Praline Shop

One of the surprising delights of the Marigny neighborhood is Loretta's, a retail store on North Rampart that makes and sells handmade pralines, fudge--both chocolate and pecan, cocount balls, heavenly hash, chocolate and caramel turtles, rum pecans, caramel and chocolate praline sauce and, in season - king cakes!

She can ship gift boxes anywhere - and she does! And there is nothing like a fresh hot praline right out of the oven.

Say no more, you beg, but in addition to having the best ice coffee in the neighborhood and homemade muffins to go with, Loretta and her sons cook up fried oysters, shrimp and catfish with potato salad and macaroni salad every Friday afternoon for the locals.

Loretta's is a Christian business, which doesn't mean you have to believe in Christ to eat there, but it offers hopeful Bible quotations in a basket on the counter to sweeten your daily outlook. Check out her Web site: www.lorettaspralines.com.

A bit of history on pralines...they were created in France more than 200 years ago when Count Cesar de Plessis Praslin used them as overtures to court famous ladies. In those days, pralines were made with almonds, but when the French colonists arrived to Louisiana, they substituted native pecans. Creoles added milk to the recipe, resulting for a creamier candy.

Pralines are made from sugar, brown sugar, half and half, butter, pecans and vanilla. How can that be bad?