Breaking (and Heartbreaking) News About Hubig's Pies

A reader let me know today that the factory where Hubig's Pies are produced in New Orleans was destroyed in a five-alarm fire last night.  This is sad news indeed, for as I wrote in a previous NOLA blog post, these small pies are delicious and "manufactured" without much machinery, i.e., real people made these desserts, and have been making them since 1922.

The families that own the company hope to rebuild.  But today, I'll bet that every Hubig pie, available in grocery stores and drug stores, has been sold, since it will be a while until they sweeten New Orleans again.

Hubig's Pies and Street Pralines

I promised myself that I wouldn't buy even one praline while in New Orleans, but who could resist the homemade pralines being sold by a street vendor on the corner of St. Peter's and Royal Streets.  They were made with brown sugar and really tasty, even if their merchandising wasn't the most appealing.

And in every drug store and supermarket in the city, I saw these intriguing packages of Hubig's Pies, so of course I bought one.

When I got back to New York, I popped one in the microwave for 25 seconds, as directed.  And it was amazingly delicious.  A little research revealed that these are made in the Fauberg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans, and the "factory" uses few automated machines, relying mostly on real people to make the pies.  Oh, and they use lard in the crust, which makes them even better.  So, the moral is, even in Walgreens good pies can be had.  At least in New Orleans.