That blizzard of choices becomes much clearer, closer to the counter.
Co-founder Ernest Hansen's ice-shaving machine, invented in 1939, cuts things mighty fine, in the best way. (Compare the output of the handheld scraper-scooper called a raspado, used in Upper Manhattan to prepare a very coarse version of the snowcone.) The loudly whirring countertop contraption (flashback: junior high shop class) yields cupful after cupful of exquisitely close-grained ice. My snowball was doused with syrup flavored by satsuma, typically a sweet version of mandarin orange, though in this case quite tart, and an optional puddle of condensed milk.
I visited Hansen's in the company of several busloads of participants in the Louisiana Roadfood Festival's evening excursion, on our way to a crawfish boil and pig roast. The photo at bottom shows festival-goers from the second bus still waiting on their snowball. Thanks to boarding the first bus, I'd already plowed through mine.
Hansen's Sno-Bliz
4801 Tchoupitoulas St. (at Bordeaux St.), New Orleans
504-891-9788
Generally open Tuesday through Sunday, 1:00-7:00, May through August; call to confirm hours
www.SnoBliz.com
