Food - Drink
The Fascinating History Of New Orleans' Famous Beignets
By KATHERINE BECK
When visiting New Orleans, there are some local specialties that you must try, including the beignet. This fried, powder sugar-covered pastry is synonymous with the Big Easy, but traces its ancestry back to the Celts, as well as the French-Creole colonists or "French Acadians" of the 1700's who settled in the NOLA area.
These settlers moved to Louisiana after they were forced from their homes in the Nova Scotia area by the British, and brought the original beignet with them. In 1862, iconic New Orleans restaurant Café du Monde began selling beignets, and they still do today, with their only other menu items being coffee with chicory and hot chocolate.
Beignets have since become a staple at Mardi Gras celebrations, a tradition also started by the French, and New Orleans even holds a Beignet Festival in October. You can either travel to the city to taste these delicious fried treats, which were named Louisiana's official state donut in 1986, or find a recipe to make your own at home.