The imperial woodpeckers of western Mexico are feared extinct; today they're known primarily from museum specimens and postage stamps. In northern climes, the sno-balls of New Orleans are uncommon, too, so a sighting in the West Village is cause for excitement.
A sno-ball consists of a flurry of shaved ice flavored with syrup. A soft, fine texture, without crunch, is essential; Hansen's Sno-Bliz is the benchmark. Imperial Woodpecker's almond-scented "nectar cream" sno-ball (small, $5, plus $1 for condensed milk) passes with flying colors.
Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls
145 Seventh Ave. South (at Charles St.), New York
251-366-7777
www.Twitter.com/#!/imperialsno
Closed Monday
I know New Orleans and I know Neesa! Guaranteed to be unlike anything you have ever had and the best you have ever tasted. You will be going back for more and more. Sweet Lou's Nectar Cream....
Posted by: Just Energy | June 22, 2011 at 09:05 AM
Hansen's is not the only benchmark for snoballs in New Orleans. People kind of divide themselves up between Hansen's and Plum Street stand. Kind of like the two Philly cheese steak places in Philly. And every neighborhood in New Orleans has its own stand and most people are loyal to that stand and will swear that it is the best one. So it is all subjective. And the Southern Snow company were the ones who started it all many years before Mr. Hansen designed his shaving machine.
Posted by: projectsimon | July 25, 2011 at 10:45 AM
I wouldn't want to suggest that I don't enjoy Plum St. snoballs. I do...
www.EatingInTranslation.com/2009/04/plum_st_snoball.html
...but for fineness of shaved ice, Hansen's has the edge. As for Southern Snow, though the company is of long standing, the history section of its own web site...
www.SouthernSnow.com
...states that "In 1934 Ernest Hansen invented and patented the first motorized ice block shaver to produce New Orleans style shaved-ice."
Posted by: Dave Cook | July 25, 2011 at 05:22 PM