Some places call today National Pralines Day, others call it National Creamy Pralines Day, so I'm going with National (Creamy) Pralines Day. I think it's better than National Possibly-Creamy Pralines Day, don't you?
Pralines are another food with a regional difference in pronounciation. I fall quite firmly in the camp of "PRAY-leen" and would've been very confused if I had ever heard "PRAW-leen." (But no longer, as I now know what a "PRAW-leen" is.)
There are two types of pralines in the US - the candies made from nuts and sugar syrup and the chocolate cookies with nuts. Of course, you can argue that there's a third type - the New Orleans praline, which is a variant of the nuts + sugar syrup candy. The New Orleans praline also has butter, milk, half&half or cream added and are known as creamy pralines. Pralines are technically made with any kind of nut, but in the US, if you buy pralines, they're probably made with pecans. If you're looking for a little variety, try almond pralines or hazelnut pralines.
Outside of the US, pralines are a different kind of candy. In Belgium and France, they tend to be chocolate candies. Interestingly, pralines are named after a French diplomat. I suppose that would make the French pronounciation of "praline" the correct pronounciation.
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