Page 56 - March & April

54 MYROUSESEVERYDAY MAY | JUNE 2013
O ne thing I love about locals, we’re loyal. 100%. We’re
loyal to our stores (we have customers who have
shopped with us for over 50 years), we’re loyal to our
communities, and of course we’re just as loyal to our favorite
snowball stands as we are to our favorite flavors. I have friends
who say I’m a Plum Street, a Hansen’s or a Pandora’s, the
same way they say I’m a nectar cream or spearmint. Whether
you choose Mom’s in Houma, Sal’s, Casey’s or Ro-Bear’s in
Metairie, the SnowDome in Algiers, S&S Snowball Express
in Gulfport, or CajunSno in Lafayette, depends as much on
tradition as it does on proximity.
When you head North of the I-10, snowballs, also spelled
snoballs, become snow cones. When I was kid, I assumed the
Snow Balls
by Donald Rouse + photos by Frank Aymami &Travis Gauthier
difference was just a name change, but that’s really just the tip
of the iceberg; both mix syrup and ice, but snowballs are made
with soft, light, shaved ice, while snow cones are made with
harder, chopped ice.
Our local shaved ice snowballs originated in New Orleans
in the 1900s (there’s a grocery store connection, too). New
immigrants to the city mimicked a snow-and-syrup concoction
served back home in Sicily. They mixed hand-shaved ice with
syrup and served it from carts. My grandfather, J.P., used to
get snowballs every time he drove to New Orleans to deliver
produce to the French Market.
In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, two different
entrepreneurs developed ice-shaving machines that would
simplify the snowball process and
create a summertime sensation. George
Ortolano, the son of Sicilian immigrants,
invented the SnoWizard around the
same time that Ernest Hansen created
the Sno-Bliz. Both machines are still
in use today, and both families are still
operating stands.
So where did all those great flavors come
from? That’s what I wanted to know.
A lot of flavors were things you would
find on a grocery shelf. While George
Ortolano was busy making his ice
machine, his wife was trying out all kinds
of ways to make new and unique flavors.
She’s responsible for mixing cream into
the snowball, lending her the moniker,
“Queen of Cream.” Every time you bite
into a chocolate cream snowball, thank