About Us
Sweet Pralines bubbling in an old copper pot. The click-clack of a horse-drawn carriage on a cobblestone street. Jazz drifting from an ancient doorway. The rich taste of gumbo. The first bite of a hot, fresh beignet. The smell of sweet pralines still warm from the kitchen. These are the sights, sounds and flavors that make up New Orleans. This is what the founders of Aunt Sally's® Pralines wanted to share with the world.
Pierre and Diane Bagur were both second generation New Orleanians of French Creole descent with a vision to share the mystique of their hometown, New Orleans. In the early 1930's, they opened their first shop in the French Quarter. The store resembled a log cabin and they selected their merchandise to remind visitors of the city's charms, rich history and delights. Among these items were the unique Creole candies called "pralines." With the help of talented candymakers, the Bagurs developed their own delicate version of New Orleans' signature candy, which they made over a gas stove in a copper pot, hand-pouring praline after praline onto marble surfaces. The pralines at Aunt Sally's® Praline Shop are made the same way today.
The Aunt Sally's® Pralines were sold individually or in packs of six or twelve, carried in hand-made cotton bales by vendors who rode a mule-drawn buggies throughout the French Quarter. Even in the early years of Aunt Sally's® Praline Shop, visitors requested and received praline shipments by mail worldwide, long before mail order became popular. Today, visitors may see what a New York Times reporter recently acclaimed as the city's best pralines, or "disks of pure joy" being made daily at 810 Decatur Street in the historic French Quarter at the corner of Jackson Square and next to Café du Monde.
So, if you're ever in the neighborhood, please stop by to try a warm sample of our pralines and browse our selection of New Orleans food, spices, cookbooks, music and memorabilia. Visitors can't seem to leave New Orleans until they've stopped by Aunt Sally's® Praline Shop to take home a box of our delicious pralines. We still ship orders all over the world and now, by popular demand, we offer our pralines at wholesale.
Years later, the third and fourth generations of the Bagur family are dedicated to carrying out Pierre and Diane's dream. It is our home, our past, our future and the heart and soul of what we do. We proudly share our unique delicacy and deep roots with every person who wants to experience what we love and cherish-the most heavenly pralines you will ever taste.
Early History
New Orleans style pralines originated in 18th century France, thanks to the sweet-tooth French Marshal and Diplomat Cesar du Plessis-Praslin (pronounced prah-lin). His chef invented a recipe that included sugar-coating almonds to be consumed as a digestive aid. He named the confection a "praline," after Marshal Praslin. Today, the word "praline" is common throughout France and Belgium to describe any confection made with nuts.
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What is a Praline?
The Praline in America
In the days of sailing vessels, when news and fashion took months to travel from Paris to New Orleans, a southern gentleman made business trips to Paris and returned with some of these delicious pralines, which he presented to the head cook of his plantation. By virtue of her excellent cooking, she prepared a confection that has lived through the ages.Instead of almonds, she used a Louisiana nut called a pecan (pronounce "peakon") and sugar made from Louisiana sugar cane. Instead of one nut she used a handful of pecans for good measure. In his historical writings of early Louisiana, eighteenth century historian Le Page du Pratz praised the pecan and its use in "the praline…one of the delicacies of New Orleans."
During the mid-1800's, Entrepreneurial black women in New Orleans, who had very few opportunities to make extra money for their families, realized the popularity of the praline and found considerable success selling them on the streets, thus making the Praline synonymous with New Orleans and a delicious candy loved by everyone.
Prah-leen or Pray-leen?
Which is the correct pronunciation of these delicate crispy, crunchy, creamy treats? While the recipes vary from creamy to chewy and everything in between, Pralines are now known throughout the South from Georgia to Texas. We at Aunt Sally's understand that your momma had a pretty good recipe, however ours are made the traditional Creole way and are available anytime you feel the urge to satisfy your sweet-tooth with a taste of the old South. As to the correct pronunciation, in New Orleans we never ever say "pray-leen," but you can say whatever your like as long as you say "Aunt Sally's" first!Back to top.
News & Articles
Aunt Sally's Praline Shops, Inc., with its long history in New Orleans, is one of these local fixtures that all tourists want to experience and locals want to share. What draws people to us is our exciting store filled with New Orleans' goodies, but even more so, our most famous delicacy of all...Aunt Sally's delicious, mouth-watering pralines. Throughout the years there have been many who have recognized Aunt Sally's for being the most favored of all. Here, we are proud to share some of these thoughts with you.
Southern Living calls Aunt Sallys Pralines the Best Pralines in New Orleans
The Great Praline Search: After sampling some of the most famous pralines in New Orleans, Southern Living reporter Wanda McKinney recently took it upon herself (with the help of her family) to have her own little unscientific taste test to find out which candymaker's product would claim the title of confection perfection. "The winner? Aunt Sally's, pans down. The consistency, creaminess, and cane-sugar goodness make her pralines the perfect confection."
- Southern Living, October 2004
- The Columbus Dispatch, July 7, 1999
The praline: a disk of pure joy. "They sell all kinds of them here, but the best is probably from Aunt Sally's Praline Shop...You nibble them, tiny piece by tiny piece, so they're not gone too fast."
- New York Times, August 30, 1998
Aunt Sally's is New Orleans! "Go into the gift shop at Aunt Sally's...where the legendary pralines can be found."
- Chicago Sun-Times, June 11, 1997
Pralines are a must have for visitors! "No one goes home without a dozen pralines from Aunt Sally's!"
- New York Times, June 8, 1997 The inside scoop on pralines! "Local tipsters will tell you to shop for pralines only at Aunt Sally's.
- The Times Newspapers Limited, April 17, 1993
Where should you shop for pralines? "Buy 'em where you see 'em being made, at Aunt Sally's in the French Market!"
- The Times Newspapers Limited, February 10, 1991
Freshness is the hallmark at Aunt Sally's Original Creole Pralines. "Aunt Sally's Pralines are Superior!"
- Travel & Leisure, August 1990
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Our History
Sweet Pralines bubbling in an old copper pot. The click-clack of a horse-drawn carriage on a cobblestone street. Jazz drifting from an ancient doorway. The rich taste of gumbo. The first bite of a hot, fresh beignet. The smell of sweet pralines still warm from the kitchen. These are the sights, sounds and flavors that make up New Orleans. This is what the founders of Aunt Sally's® Pralines wanted to share with the world.
Pierre and Diane Bagur were both second generation New Orleanians of French Creole descent with a vision to share the mystique of their hometown, New Orleans. In the early 1930's, they opened their first shop in the French Quarter. The store resembled a log cabin and they selected their merchandise to remind visitors of the city's charms, rich history and delights. Among these items were the unique Creole candies called "pralines." With the help of talented candymakers, the Bagurs developed their own delicate version of New Orleans' signature candy, which they made over a gas stove in a copper pot, hand-pouring praline after praline onto marble surfaces. The pralines at Aunt Sally's® Praline Shop are made the same way today.
The Aunt Sally's® Pralines were sold individually or in packs of six or twelve, carried in hand-made cotton bales by vendors who rode a mule-drawn buggies throughout the French Quarter. Even in the early years of Aunt Sally's® Praline Shop, visitors requested and received praline shipments by mail worldwide, long before mail order became popular. Today, visitors may see what a New York Times reporter recently acclaimed as the city's best pralines, or "disks of pure joy" being made daily at 810 Decatur Street in the historic French Quarter at the corner of Jackson Square and next to Café du Monde.
So, if you're ever in the neighborhood, please stop by to try a warm sample of our pralines and browse our selection of New Orleans food, spices, cookbooks, music and memorabilia. Visitors can't seem to leave New Orleans until they've stopped by Aunt Sally's® Praline Shop to take home a box of our delicious pralines. We still ship orders all over the world and now, by popular demand, we offer our pralines at wholesale.
Years later, the third and fourth generations of the Bagur family are dedicated to carrying out Pierre and Diane's dream. It is our home, our past, our future and the heart and soul of what we do. We proudly share our unique delicacy and deep roots with every person who wants to experience what we love and cherish-the most heavenly pralines you will ever taste.
Back to top.Kosher Dairy Benefits
Aunt Sally's is proud to announce that all of the Aunt Sally's Praline line are considered Kosher Dairy,Cholov Stam. This means to everyone that Aunt Sally's has taken our pralines one step up the quality chain than many other candy products. At a time when product recalls are the norm rather than the exception, when inferior quality ingredients are present in a product, and when cleanliness is questionable, you can feel assured that Aunt Sally's Pralines are none of the above. All ingredients in Aunt Sally's Pralines are kosher and our facility is inspected to be clean to a very high standard.You, our customer, are very important to us. We have a real responsibility to ensure you the best product that we can produce. Thanks for your business.
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