Snowball Mania
Time to Chill
If you’ve ever spent time in south Louisiana during the summer months, there’s a chance you’ve had a sweet treat unique to the region — snowballs. Perhaps you have enjoyed an Olde Tyme po’boy and followed it up with a snowball or maybe you have joined the line of cars wrapped around the parking lot waiting to get a delicious dessert from Cajun Sno, home of stuffed snowballs.
While other parts of the country might have snow cones or shaved ice, snowballs were created in New Orleans and have become a Louisiana staple. What makes them different is that snowballs are made from thinly shaved ice, so the ice absorbs the flavor, rather than dripping to the bottom. Robin Chevalier, owner of Cajun Sno, says the consistency of a snowball is soft, compared to a snow cone, which she describes as crunchy.
Ross Murphree of Olde Tyme Grocery and Murph’s Olde Tyme Snowballs says there is a lot of joy in snowballs, and that they are “part of tradition, part of culture, part of who we are in south Louisiana.” He says there is a community aspect to them as well since they often bring back memories of summer, baseball and spending time with friends and family. Some of his own favorite snowball memories include snowball ice fights and giving out free snowballs in front of Olde Tyme during the March of Dimes walk.
Both Acadiana snowball titans are family-run businesses. Chevalier got the idea to open Cajun Sno from a family member and has been operating for nearly 40 years now. Her children used to walk there after school to hang out and now her granddaughter, Ashlyn Halpin, is the manager. Halpin says, “My childhood was here,” sharing that she loved growing up at the snowball stand and has been handing orders out through the window since she could barely see over the countertop. Murphree began working at Murph’s Olde Tyme Snowballs in high school, and it has been part of his life ever since. When talking about the history of the family business, he shared that his parents met through the snowball stand and how years later, he followed in their footsteps, meeting his wife right outside the snowball trailer on the UL Lafayette campus.
Whether you stop at Murph’s seasonal stand open April through September, or drive up to Cajun Sno anytime of the year, you are guaranteed a fantastic treat and a taste of southern Louisiana!
Try This
Wondering what to order next time you find yourself at a snowball stand? These are the experts’ favorites:
- Murphree says as a kid his go-to snowball order was spearmint.
- Chevalier is getting yellow cake batter or ice cream with evaporated milk.
- Halpin recommends a red velvet snowball stuffed with ice cream in the middle.
