[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pskI_QVw6y0[/embedyt]Megan Braden-Perry knows New Orleans.

That would be true if we just counted her time as a reporter at a few of the city’s newspapers. That would be true if we just wanted to talk about her work with the second-biggest event in the city. But the 7th-generation city-dweller and 7th Ward native has a deep well of family history in the city to draw from any time she wants to talk about the Crescent. Her love for the city is bone-deep is what we’re getting at. So, who better to write the book on the treat that marks New Orleans hottest months more than any other, the thing we all reach for when the air is too heavy for a beignet: the snowball?

Braden-Perry became the first person to document the snowball phenomenon in a book (Crescent City Snow: The Ultimate Guide To New Orleans Snowball Stands), running through 50 distinct spaces selling their own take on shaved ice and syrup.

We caught up with the sommelier of syrup and condensed milk to talk shop (err, stand) and learn a little bit about our favorite summertime confection. Check it out up top.