30
MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2013
I
n Chauvin, Thanksgiving and Christmas mean one thing for
certain: Bouille Pies! Tarte-a-la-bouille pies are a Cajun favorite
during the holidays. A simple milk custard fills a sweet tart
dough shell of goodness. Our secret recipe has been in my family
for generations. I can remember watching my mom and her sisters
crowd into our kitchen and bake over 40 pies to eat and share with
family and friends. I watched in amazement as they churned out
pies and placed them to cool on every surface available. It was the
first time I saw kitchen production in unison. Maxine stirred the
custard, Brenda made the crust, Linda rolled the dough, Christine
floated from station to station, and each of them peered into the
oven to determine if the pies were done.
My mother kept us kids occupied with bowls of Bouille custard
and raw sweet dough, which we ate until our stomachs grew
sour. We practiced our rolling skills with extra pie dough and cut
out Christmas trees, snowmen, and angels
using the same cookie cutters each year. We
placed our cookies to bake in my mother’s
oven. There was no easy bake oven in our
family.
So, last year, when a patron of Café Hope
asked if I could make 40 Bouille Pies
as Christmas gifts to his employees, I
knew that there was only one place to
make this happen. One Friday evening,
after scrubbing our commercial kitchen in Marrero, with two
convection ovens and two commercial ovens, mind you, I headed
to Chauvin. My mother waited with our stations set up. I made
each pie dough, one at a time, in a food processor. I then rolled
and placed them in pie tins while my mother made the custard
filling. After they were filled, we rolled out strips to make a quick
lattice and crimped the edges. Then, we baked them, four at a time,
in her vintage yellow Roper oven. In three hours, we had all the
pies in tins awaiting their turn to bake. We cleared the dining room
table, added an extra leaf, dropped the thermostat, and lined them
up to cool as they emerged from the oven. We fought to keep our
eyes open while waiting for the last pies to bake. In the morning we
boxed up all 40 pies and drove them back to Marrero. Before I left,
my mom said to me, “We should start a pie company.” I replied,
“We just did.”
Bouille Pies
by
Chef Melissa Marie Martin, Café Hope, Marrero, LA +
photos by
Rush Jagoe
Rouses tarte-a-la-bouille pies are
made from a Rouse Family Recipe
passed down for generations
—Chef Chaya,
Rouses Bakery Director
