Rouses Everyday - January & February

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famiLY Letter
Southern Kitchen Traditions
Most Southern cooks I know cook by taste. They don’t need a recipe for their
mom’s smothered pork chops, just a memory of how she made it. I find inspiration
at restaurants, in cookbooks, and watching the Food Network, but more often than
not, I go by memory. I can remember exactly the way my grandfather’s rice and
gravy tasted. I know my gumbo is ready not by the buzz of a timer, but when it
tastes right.
I think the way we talk about food, and how much we talk about food, makes us
Southern. In my family, we talk about how we’re going to cook the fish before we
even catch them. But what makes a food like smothered pork chops or cornbread
Southern? Partly how we cook it. (Pork fat is as Southern as it gets). Partly when we
cook it — in the South, food is tradition. We serve red beans and rice with smoked
sausage on Mondays; white beans and rice with fried fish on Fridays.
Ultimately, though, I think what makes a food truly Southern is the way we eat it. In
the South, we know that food is meant to be shared with family, friends and neighbors.
Like red beans and rice, and white beans and catfish, food tastes better together.
Southern food traditions are being celebrated and preserved at The Southern Food
& Beverage Museum (SoFab), a first-of-its-kind museum that just opened in New
Orleans. Founder and director Liz Williams is building the Smithsonian of food
and drink one hot sauce bottle at a time. Rouses sponsors the Culinary Innovation
Center at SoFab, where culinary students can learn the secrets to Southern food, and
emerging food entrepreneurs can work on the next Tabasco, Steen’s or Luzianne.
Donny Rouse
3rd Generation
On the Cover
Chappapeela Farms thick cut, bone-in pork
chop cooked on a flattop cast iron griddle.
Photo by Romney Caruso.
• • •
EAT | DRINK | COOK | SHOP LOCAL
WHAT I’M EATING
Raising Cane’s was founded by a Baton Rouge
entrepreneur, Todd Graves. The chicken fingers are
always fresh, and I love the Cane Sauce.
WHAT I’M DRINKING (DAY)
Iconic, an all natural sports drink. The founders
went through the entrepreneurship program at
the Idea Village in New Orleans.
WHAT I’M DRINKING (NIGHT)
Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey
WHAT I’M COOKING
Chappapeela Farms pork chops
on my Big Green Egg
SHOP LOCAL
I’m a big fan of K2 Coolers, which are made by a
company in Lafayette. They’re rugged and durable.
• • •
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photo by Travis Gauthier