Rouses Everyday - January & February

ROUSES

EVERYDAY

JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2015

the

Southern Food & Beverage

issue

housewife. Anything that you couldn’t toss into a dishwasher became a

hindrance, suspect, maybe even Communist.

Cast iron cookware became relegated to the backs of cupboards and

basement shelves.

That’s where I found my family’s two black, gristly cast iron skillets

on a visit to my parents’ home inMaryland about ten summers ago. I

remembered them distinctly and fondly from my youth, wondering

even then how my mother — who weighed more than a hundred

pounds only during her five pregnancies — was able to wield these

unwieldy accessories about with such speed and efficiency.

From them came our ritualistic Sunday bacon and eggs and my

favorite — to the horror of my father, a World War II veteran who’d

sampled it two too many times — creamed chipped beef.

But my folks stopped cooking full meals long ago due to age and

infirmity and the skillets found their way to the basement, where I

spied them on a trip home with my kids.

I was about to take them camping for the first time and seized on

the skillets as perfect for the occasion, not only because I fancy

myself something of a campfire gourmand but also because I’d

destroyed every other pot and pan I’ve ever taken camping with me.

BILLY ROYSTER

Rouses Accounting

I inherited two cast iron skillets from my great grandmother. They

went from my great grandmother to grandmother to father. I saw

them in his garage, borrowed them, and never returned them.

The skillets are both #8. That’s the #8, not 8-inches. The number

corresponds to the opening on a particular wood-burning stove.

(When a wood-burning stove isn’t in use the opening is covered

by a flat plate.)

I also have a Dutch oven that I bought to replace the one I

inherited from my great grandmother via my dad’s garage.

It’s a sad story. I was just learning to cook and had little experience

with cast iron.The skillets and Dutch oven lived in our garage, and

were lucky to get a coat of grease every once in a while. One

night when it was too cold to cook outside, I had the bright idea

to place my very cold Dutch oven from outside on my hot electric

stove inside. I heard a few ticks followed by a loud pop then saw

the pot lying in pieces on the stove — it turns out cast iron is

nearly indestructible — it scared the hell out of us.

With the #8s, the new Dutch oven, and a cast iron fryer, which

was a gift from my godchild, I now have nearly a dozen cast

irons. My favorite is a seven-and-a-half gallon jambalaya kettle

that was a gift from my groomsmen. It’s an odd size — they

make fives and tens, but you don’t see a lot of kettles that

are seven-and-a-half. I make jambalaya in it all the time. My

specialty is a turduchen version that’s made 2-2-2-2-2: that’s

two pounds of duck, two pounds of smoked turkey breast, two

pounds of smoked Rouses turduchen sausage, two pounds of

boneless skinless chicken thighs, and two pounds of rice. Cook

the duck breast first, skin side down, to get the fat out.

Tommy Rouse, 2nd Generation

Brian Bergeron, Rouses Store #16, Assistant Store Director