Praline

   Several stories of the origin of pralines vie with one another. But all concern the chef of Marshal Cesar du Plessis-Praslin (1598-1675), who became the French minister of state in 1652 and who concluded a successful military career upon reaching the pinnacle of military rank—field marshal in command of the entire royal army.

   One story has it that Praslin's chef prepared the sugar-coated praline for King Louis XIV, a dinner guest of the marshal. Another, and one with more authoritative approval, is that the praline had its genesis in the marshal's stomach problems. The marshal liked to nibble almonds, but they gave him heartburn. His chef suggested that if the almonds were browned in boiling water, they would be more easily digested. The result of the chef's ingenuity was a happier marshal, with fewer heartburns, and a confection of sugar-coated almonds that has become quite popular under the name praline.

   The American version, introduced in New Orleans, substitutes pecans for the almonds. The Creoles in Louisiana who were responsible for the preparation of these goodies chose the pecans because they were locally available. Nevertheless, they retained the name praline, thus immortalizing, eponymously, Cesar du Plessis-Praslin. Although possibly an apocryphal story, the marshal is said to have died with a silver tray of pralines at his bedside.