ROUSES_JanFeb2022_Magazine.indd

JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2022

A Fresh New Year

HOW TO KEEP YOUR PRODUCE FRESH

Your Fish Is Our Command: WHAT ROUSES CERTIFIED SEAFOOD

CITRUS & KALE SALAD WITH HONEY DRESSING recipe inside

EXPERTS CAN DO FOR YOU

A Fresh New Shopping Experience

When we introduced curbside pickup nearly three years ago, we had no idea just how important this service would become to our customers. Curbside pickup is a great contactless solution for shopping during Covid; you can order groceries online and pick them up at a Rouses Market without even leaving your car. We wouldn’t have been able to launch curbside pickup — or keep up with the demand during the first wave of Covid — without our vendor partners. But we’ve always prided ourselves on our Rouses Markets shopping experience, and we knew we needed our own curbside pickup, shopped and managed entirely by Rouses Markets team members. So, for the past year, we worked on creating an in-house app for just that service. With our new Rouses Shopping App, you can shop our weekly specials and everyday low prices online, place your grocery order online, and choose a pickup time that works for you. You can even order alcohol (where available). You get your own personal shopper, who is a Rouses Markets team member that you likely know. There is no curbside pickup fee on orders over $35, and you pay the same price for groceries that you pay in our stores. Download our new Rouses Shopping App on the App Store — or get it on Google Play — and choose which Rouses Markets shopping experience is right for you

PHOTO BY CHANNING CANDIES

on any given day. You can always come in the store to get your groceries, or something delicious to eat or drink. Or you can order curbside on the app, and set a pickup time that works for you. You pay the same price either way. We started rolling out our Rouses Shopping App with Curbside Pickup at the end of last year, and we’re adding that option to new stores every week. We plan to offer it companywide by the time the next issue of our magazine hits stores.

Happy New Year! — Donny Rouse, CEO, 3 rd Generation

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© 2022 Community Co ee Company

Table of Contents In Every Issue

Fresh Tips & Tricks

Fresh, New Recipes 18 Chef Isaac Toups’ Crab Fat Butter 19 Chef Isaac Toups’ Crab Fat Rice Chef Isaac Toups’ Gulf Seafood Courtbouillon Chef Isaac Toups’ Brick Roux

1 Donny Rouse

Marketing & Advertising Director Tim Acosta

15 Only the Best Fish Makes the Cut at Rouses

5 Letter from the Editor by Marcy Nathan 7 Cookin’ on Hwy. 1 with Tim Acosta 9 Yes, Thank You Bites by Ali Rouse Royster 11 How to Avoid a Sticky Situation by Sarah Baird 14 Some Fin to Talk About by David W. Brown 17 From Head to Roe by Sarah Baird 23 Aw, Shucks! by David W. Brown 24 Pot Sticklers by Marcelle Bienvenu 35 Saying Grace by Marcelle Bienvenu 39 All Ripe, All Ripe, All Ripe by David W. Brown 47 Get It Done, Chop Chops with Ms. Linda Green Fresh Features

20 Your Fish Is Our

Creative Director & Editor Marcy Nathan

Command: What Rouses Certified Seafood Experts Can Do for You Why You Should Primp Your Shrimp 21 How to Clean and Eat a Lobster 32 Where There’s a Wilt, There’s a Way: How to Store Produce

Art Director, Layout & Design Eliza Schulze

Illustrator Kacie Galtier

21 Cajun Lobster

What’s This Here Cocktail Sauce

Creative Manager McNally Sislo

23 Mosca’s-Style Baked Oysters

34 Let the Good Thymes Roll 37 The Big Apples

Copy Editors Patti Stallard Adrienne Crezo

Oyster-Artichoke Pan Roast

25 Marcelle Bienvenu’s Okra & Tomato Gumbo

A Treasure Grove

Advertising & Marketing Amanda Kennedy Harley Breaux Stephanie Hopkins Nancy Besson Taryn Clement Mary Ann Florey

41 How to Cut an Onion Without Crying

27 Shrimp Creole

Hwy. 1 Oven Roasted Whole Fish

42 How to Tell When Something Is Ripe

35 Marcelle Bienvenu’s Aunt Grace’s Apple Cake 39 Citrus & Kale Salad with Honey Dressing

44 It’s Nothing to Wine About

JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2022

Dry Buys: How to Store Flour & Other Dry Goods

A Fresh New Year

43 Tomato Ricotta Bruschetta

45 At Season’s Peak

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Shantrell Conerly , the Deli Assistant Manager at our Rouses Market in Downtown New Orleans, helped our Marketing & Advertising Director, Tim Acosta , cook his go-to fish recipe for our cover.

Your Fish is Our Command: WHAT ROUSES CERTIFIED SEAFOOD

CITRUS & KALE SALAD WITH HONEY DRESSING recipe inside

flip to page 27 for the cover recipe!

EXPERTS CAN DO FOR YOU

COVER PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

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Our Favorite Kitchen Tips &Tricks

ELECTROLYTE WATER

Don’t sleep on quality cheese! It can make or break your recipe. Any time I need shredded cheese, I purchase a whole block and shred it myself using the shredding disc on my food processor. You can use a box or plane grater, or even just dice it with a knife. Many pre-shredded cheeses are coated to prevent clumping, which can sometimes affect the flavor and meltiness. – Kacie Galtier, Designer & Illustrator

My mom is an excellent cook — I love her green gumbo, her smothered squash and zucchini, and her red beans and rice. Any time I ask for a recipe, she tells me she just adds a pinch of this and a pinch of that — in other words, no real recipe. But every dish has a pinch of brown sugar. It’s her magic trick! – Eliza Schulze, Art Director

Nothing is worse than a big clump of uncombined flour in the middle of your pancake breakfast. Whenever I need to use dry ingredients in a recipe, I like to run them through a sifter before combining them with the wet ingredients. My mom is an amazing baker and she swears it makes all your batters smooth, airy and, of course, clump-free. – McNally Sislo, Creative Manager

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Letter from the Editor By Marcy Nathan, Creative Director P ompano en Papillote is an old-school New Orleans dish. En papillote — pronounced ON poppy-YOTE — is the French way for saying “in paper,” which is how the fish is cooked. The French have been baking fish and other food en papillote since at least the 17th century. Cooking en papillote seals in the moisture of whatever you are making, even chicken and steak. Food history has always fascinated me, probably in part because I was lucky enough to grow up in one of the great food cities of the world. Pompano en papillote was invented at Antoine’s Restaurant, my city’s oldest restaurant — the same restau- rant that invented Oysters Rockefeller and Eggs Sardou. Antoine Alciatore, the founder, created the dish in honor of balloonists from his native France. And now that I think about it, the parchment does sort of puff up like a balloon during baking.

to form a perfectly symmetrical heart shape when opened.) The hardest part of the dish is folding that parchment heart around the fish. The paper needs to be pulled tight, very tight, like lid-on-a-new-jar-of-pickles tight, so that the fish, vegetables and herbs are completely encased; otherwise, the steam will escape and the fish will be dry. You can steam just about any firm fish in parchment — I like flounder — from speckled trout, redfish and grouper to amberjack, mahi-mahi, even mullet. All you need is fresh herbs for flavor, vegetables for color and texture, a splash of liquid to help create the steam, and a bit of fat, like a pat of regular butter or crab butter (see page …). In a pinch, you can use aluminum foil instead of parchment paper. (Your fish will cook a bit more quickly, too.) And if you want a no-fuss version of fish en papillote , at Rouses Markets we sell our own in-house, freshly prepped, cook-in-the-bag fish with garlic butter and vegetables in our Seafood Department. Our bags can be cooked in the microwave or oven, so you can save those paper hearts for Valentine’s Day. You’re welcome.

Cooking food in paper is one of those cooking techniques that seem to come and go, and these days it’s rare to find Pompano en Papillote or any fish en papillote on a New Orleans menu. In a city that loves dinner and show — think Bananas Foster and Cherries Jubilee — I don’t know why. In a somewhat theatrical display, your fish comes to the table still in the parchment paper in which it has been cooked. When the waiter slices open the parchment, there’s a rapid release of the built-up steam, eliciting “ooohs” and “ahhs” from everyone at the table. OK, I admit it’s true that the best thing I make for dinner is usually reservations, but I can make fish en papillote , after a lesson with chefs Greg and Mary Sonnier. (Their exquisite restaurant, Gabrielle, is on my short list when people ask, ‘Where should I eat?’) If you want to throw a dinner party your friends will never forget, or at least actually enjoy, hire a private chef for a hands-on dinner. Greg and Mary taught us how to make fish en papillote and Oysters Gabie, possibly my favorite restaurant appetizer ever. But first they had to teach 12 adults how to cut a heart out of a piece of parchment paper, like a kindergartner making Valen- tines. (First you fold it in half, then you cut it

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FEEL-GOOD FROZEN TREATS

©2021 Wells Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cookin’ on Hwy. 1

By Tim Acosta, Advertising & Marketing Director

W hen I was little, my dad started me out fishing on Lake Boeuf, which is a big shallow lake near Raceland that is surrounded by freshwater marsh. The lure of Lake Boeuf was probably how close it was to our house, but it’s also easy to catch bass, perch and sac-au-lait in Lake Boeuf (sac-au-lait, or “sack of milk,” is the Cajun French name for crappie, or white perch). And it spills into all of these little canals and bayous and swamps, and eventually into Lake Des Allemands, the Catfish Capital of the Universe. I think of those days every time I pass the Theriot Canal Boat Launch on Hwy. 308. You don’t need to following fishing reports to know when the fish are biting in Lake Boeuf. You just need to look at how many vehicles are in the parking lot at the launch. March to June — even early July — the lot is almost always full. When my boys were little, my wife, Cindy, and I took them to Grand Isle. My father- in-law, Mr. Anthony Rouse Sr., had a camp down Apple Lane. We’d go out in the boat to fish by the rocks in the Gulf of Mexico,

we can get our hands on, and we always have. And

or run down to the passes of Four Bayous and Coup Abel; we also fished north of the island in Barataria Bay as well. My buddy Phil and I used to take his kids and mine fishing to Dularge and Cocodrie, just south of Houma. It was easy for the kids to reach their limits there. Some days we’d have to run out pretty far to find clear water, though. My oldest, Nick, would complain that Phil and I just wanted to run our boats…well, that may have been a little bit true... Those were some good times we had, for sure! I ran into Phil in the parking lot at one of our stores in Thibodaux a few months back. His boat was hitched to his truck. Phil had been fishing but not catching, and he complained about spending the whole day out there around Dularge just burning gas. I told him I was going inside to catch my limit in our Seafood Department. There’s always something fresh and local on ice at the store — drum, catfish, tuna — all caught in the deep waters of the Gulf. We buy as much fish out of the Gulf of Mexico as

we don’t just have the best local Gulf seafood in our stores; you can catch salmon and flounder from Alaska, and steelhead from Idaho. Our certified seafood experts will gut, scale and dress any whole fish for you. They can even fillet it for you. I caught the red snapper on our cover in the Seafood Department at our Rouses Market on Baronne Street in New Orleans. We cooked it whole with the head intact, which keeps the fish full of flavor. You can use a fork or spoon to scrape the flesh off a whole roasted fish, and the bone will peel right off. Or you can use your hands, like our art director, Eliza, did. She picked the fish on our cover clean as soon as we finished the photo shoot. It was like a cat got ahold of it.

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M y kids used to watch a cartoon called T.O.T.S. featuring Pip the Penguin and Freddy the Flamingo. In one episode the two sang a song imploring kids to take a “no thank you bite” before refusing to eat something. My husband, Billy, and I still use the phrase to remind the kids to try a food. I usually do not resort to singing the song by the same name, though. You’re welcome, children. Now please eat your food. One food that I had to remind myself to take a “no thank you bite” of was salmon. For whatever reason, I had it inmymind that I liked lots of fish, but not cooked salmon. Honestly, I have no idea what kind of traumatic event I had with salmon in my younger years that cemented this in my mind; it must have been so horrible that I completely blocked it out. Out on a date night a few years ago, my husband and I were at our favorite spot, Cinclare, in Downtown Thibodaux. Their seasonal menu had just changed, and one of the items was a bronzed salmon. Every- thing about it sounded delicious, but I was still skeptical because…salmon. Which was so silly! So I took a page out of the cartoon script and gave it a shot. With that one

(completely delicious) dish, my mind was changed. I am fairly certain I ate that dish every time we went to Cinclare that winter. After trying salmon at a few other restau- rants, I decided to try my hand at cooking it at home. I’m not going to lie, I was intimidated. (I can’t explain it. It’s just a fish!) But I looked up a few recipes. They were all fairly simple sounding, so I gave it a good ol’ college try. My first dish was an oven-roasted salmon topped with an avocado salsa. To be honest, it wasn’t great. I haven’t made it again. I waited awhile to try another recipe. Then another. Then I came across a delicious salmon recipe that uses my favorite quarantine impulse purchase, an air fryer. The air fryer cooks the salmon without drying it out. It is a fabulous option for a quick, healthy, fresh weeknight dinner. Now I am now longer Ali Rouse Royster, salmon scaredy-fish ; instead I’m Ali Rouse Royster, at-home salmon chef! Get the recipe for Ali Rouse Royster’s air fried salmon at www.rouses.com.

Yes, Thank You Bites

By Ali Rouse Royster, 3rd Generation

“All you need to say is no thank you, No thank you I’m alright. All you need to say is no thank you, And take one no thank you bite.”

mouse-pointer Get our favorite Mardi Gras recipes and learn about Mardi Gras traditions all over the Gulf Coast at www.rouses.com.

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PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

10 ROUSES J ANUARY | F EBRUARY 2022

How to Avoid a Sticky Situation

By Sarah Baird After determining the correct ingredients and proper cooking technique, there’s no weightier decision when preparing a recipe than selecting the right kitchen tools for the job. Sauteeing tilapia in a stainless steel pan will produce a completely different outcome than if a nonstick pan is used, and paella will be much smoother if constantly stirred with a wooden spoon than a silicone one. If you’ve always been curious which utensils are best suited for which meal-prepping purposes, never fear! We’ve outlined it for you.

silicone spatula is your new go-to. With thin, flexible edges perfect for smoothing out icing or making the mashed potatoes atop a shepherd’s pie crest into perfect peaks, silicone spoons and spatulas have a distinct wheelhouse of skills. Nonstick, stain-resistant and pliable enough not to damage even the fussiest pans while sizzling breakfast sausage or flipping fragile crepes, silicone utensils often come in a set featuring multiple sizes, ensuring that the spatula you use while cooking is just the right shape for the job. But buyer beware! Shoppers should ensure the construction of whatever silicone tool they’re buying is 100% high-grade silicone without any “filler” material, which could cause unexpected melting at high temperatures or in the dishwasher. (That’s right, the magic words: Top-quality silicone tools are dishwasher safe .) ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT DON’T USE IT WHEN... ... you’ll be doing a lot of pan scraping. While silicone has a lot going for it, the manmade material just can’t match up to wood when it comes to toughness. If you’re planning on scraping up fond from the bottom of a pan, best to err on the side of nature. consider expanding further into the silicone cookware universe by investing in a silicone baking mat. These nonstick, ultra-flexible sheets line baking trays and cut out the need for keeping an endless roll of parchment paper in your cabinet. Silicone baking mats can be used upward of 2,000 times before being replaced, making them a wallet- friendly gift (and long-term investment!) for the galette and macaron baker in your life. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT TRY THIS PRODUCT: If you’re a loyal silicone spatula user,

spoons to dry completely in a place with good airflow to prevent bacteria from developing. Also, if you’re concerned about keeping the aesthetic appeal of your wooden spoon pristine, avoid using it with ingredients that could stain, like blueberry pie filling or within a mile of turmeric. While it won’t impact the functionality of the spoon, you might end up with an unexpectedly purple- or yellow-hued utensil. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT TRY THIS PRODUCT: A food-grade mineral oil (which runs around $6) is critical for ensuring the longevity and functionality of your wooden spoons. Any time the woodgrain begins to look a little dry, blurry or worn, pour a bit of mineral oil onto a soft cloth and give the spoon a rub. Allow it to soak in overnight, rinse off any excess, and your wooden spoon will be good as new. With proper care, wooden spoons can be the sort of family heirlooms passed through generations alongside storied dishes and skillets.

Arrow-Circle-Down WHEN TO USE A WOODEN SPOON:

Is there anything a wooden spoon can’t do? This kitchen catchall is the go-to stirring, sampling and scooping tool for a reason — not the least of which is its au naturel material. Remarkably durable and sturdy with just-enough friction — making them ideal utensils for viscous pots of rice or thick brownie batter — wooden spoons don’t conduct heat like metal spoons. They won’t “shock” high-temperature mixtures like candy, meaning that these non-reactive tools can be used in even the most challenging stovetop situations. Wooden spoons won’t scratch surfaces, including nonstick pans, and can be trusted not to change or absorb flavors from acidic, pungent recipes. (Looking at you, tomato sauce.) Plus, wood simply feels softer to grip, particularly if you’re constantly stirring something over a long time, like risotto. They’re environmentally friendly and don’t have the potential to release chemicals into dishes if used incorrectly (read: over high heat) like some plastic kitchen tools.

Arrow-Circle-Down WHEN TO USE A SILICONE SPOON (OR SPATULA): Looking for the perfect tool to scrape down the sides of a stand mixer while you’re whipping up a carrot cake? The

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT DON’T USE IT WHEN... ... there are obvious cracks in the wood, or the spoon has split. Always allow wooden

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Everything from cobbler to cornbread to pot pie benefits from a cast iron preparation, thanks to its seamless stovetop-to-oven transition abilities.

iron preparation, thanks to its seamless stovetop-to-oven transition abilities. What’s more, they last pretty much forever with proper care, meaning the cast iron you buy today will not just serve you well, but maybe your grandchildren as well. (Oh, and for the curious: You can definitely wash your cast iron pans with a mild soap. Just make sure to dry it well and oil generously immediately afterward.) ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT DON’T USE IT WHEN... ... you’re cooking something highly acidic and the pan is brand new. When a cast iron pan is “well-seasoned” and broken in over the course of months or years, acidic dishes using ingredients like citrus juice are completely fine. But try cooking an acidic meal in a freshly purchased cast iron skillet,

Arrow-Circle-Down WHEN TO USE CAST IRON:

There’s always a lot of chatter in home-cook circles about the merits and drawbacks of cast iron — including, but not limited to, the ongoing debate about whether you can clean it with soap and water — but those who are dedicated fans are loyal for a reason. Handy and homey with high heat retention, cast iron should be your chosen vessel for stovetop deep-frying because it can keep oil at the correct temperature for long periods, ensuring whatever you’re crisping up to golden brown — whether chicken legs or okra — won’t become excessively greasy. Well-seasoned cast iron is also superior for searing steaks and baking. Everything from cobbler to cornbread to pot pie benefits from a cast

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Arrow-Circle-Down WHEN TO USE NONSTICK:

Sometimes, you just need the ease of an omelet sliding gently from pan to plate or a guarantee that your thinly pounded, lightly breaded pork schnitzel isn’t going to fall apart at the crucial flipping moment. That’s where a nonstick pan comes in. Ideal for delicate foods that need to be treated tenderly, like flaky fish, nonstick pans work best over low-to-medium heat. The ease of cleanup also means they’re perfect for making gooey, cheesy weeknight quesadillas, or even impressing guests with perfectly fluffy pancakes with minimal mess. piece of meat or create a pan sauce. The coatings that make nonstick pans so useful in many circumstances can become altered under the extremely high heat required by searing, ruining the pan. Also, never put a nonstick pan in the oven. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT TRY THIS PRODUCT: If you’re looking for an alternative to the traditional Teflon nonstick pan, consider purchasing a ceramic nonstick pan. Sure, they might not be quite as slick at the classic, but with greater scratch resistance and longer heat retention, more and more people are choosing to keep both types in their kitchen arsenal. Sarah Baird is the author of multiple books, including New Orleans Cocktails and Flask , which was released in summer 2019. A 2019 Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, her work has been featured in The New York Times , Washington Post , Saveur , Eater , Food &Wine and The Guardian , among others. Previously, she served as restaurant critic for the New Orleans alt-weekly, Gambit Weekly , where she won Critic of the Year in 2015 for her dining reviews. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT DON’T USE IT WHEN... ... you want to get a good sear on a

Arrow-Circle-Down WHEN TO USE A STAINLESS STEEL PAN:

Stainless steel is all about two words: browning and crusting. Forgivingly tough, non-reactive (acidic foods like tomatoes — welcome!) and with a thin profile that makes heating easy to control, stainless steel pans are a reliable kitchen workhorse. As well suited for caramelizing onions or stir-frying tofu as searing off a pork shoulder to get the perfect bark, the lack of coating on stainless steel pans allows for crispiness that you just can’t find when using nonstick pans. (Avoid uneven heating and too much sticking by always preheating your stainless steel pan for three to five minutes and adding oil before use.) Endlessly versatile, there’s a reason stainless is the staple of professional kitchens. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT DON’T USE IT WHEN... ... you’re cooking items that have an ultra- high potential to stick — even with the best preparation — like lightly breaded chicken cutlets or crumb-coated snapper filets. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT TRY THIS PRODUCT: Keeping a bottle of distilled white vinegar on hand can go a long way toward cleaning up any blemishes or issues that might arise with your stainless steel pan. Vinegar can easily remove “overheating” spots on stainless steel with a quick swipe of a soft cloth, and get rid of hard water stains as part of a 3-to- 1 vinegar and water mixture. Bonus? It’s probably already in your pantry.

PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

and you risk being left with a metallic-tasting meal (not to mention a stripped pan). Cast iron also isn’t the most hospitable cooking vessel for eggs, so keep your nonstick at the ready for any sunny-side-up breakfasts.

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT TRY THIS PRODUCT: Thanks to its ultra-high smoke point,

grapeseed oil is the “seasoning” oil of choice for most cast iron enthusiasts and professional chefs. For the uninitiated, seasoning the cast iron simply means heating oil in the pan and allowing it to absorb into the pores of the metal, creating a rough-and-tumble layer that prevents the cast iron from rusting and eventually making the pan’s interior smooth and slick. Grapeseed oil accomplishes this best, but canola oil and flaxseed oil are good options.

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F or Rouses Markets, offering the best products, including seafood, at the lowest prices is everything. When you are talking about creatures harvested from the sea, to ensure quality, you have to go the extra mile and do things a little bit differently. The telltale signs are subtle but important, and how the seafood is handled every step of the way must be expertly done. Seafood moves very quickly from the sea to your shopping cart, and along the way are several quality checks by the best in the business. “The first thing is to know who you are buying from,” says Denise Englade, the Director of Seafood for Rouses Markets. The seafood group buys straight from the source to make sure Rouses sells only the freshest fish possible. To that end, Denise and her team work with producers, processors, and fishers directly. “For the majority of our fish — especially our local fish — we buy it whole, and then we fillet it at the store level,” she says. This

Some Fin to Talk About By David W. Brown

is important because when you get a whole fish that still has its scales and its skin and its belly lining (among its other parts), you are ensuring that the fish, first, stays fresher on the bone, and second, has the parts necessary to allow for a more in-depth inspection of its quality. When the certified seafood experts at Rouses Markets get a fish, the first thing they do is look in the fish’s belly. “You want to make sure the belly bones, as we call them, and the belly wall, is fresh and the bones are poking through,” says Englade. Next, when the Rouses team member threads up the spine, he or she is looking for red blood — in other words, that it has not yet oxidized. For a head-on fish, the fish experts check its gills, which should also have nice, fresh, red blood. When the gills have turned brown, that means the fish has been around too long, and has begun oxidizing. A lot of people pay special attention to the eyes of a fish to determine freshness — that cloudy eyes mean trouble — but Englade says that isn’t always true. A saltwater fish

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Below: Tommy Williams of Great Escape Fisheries in Slidell, LA ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Opposite: David Maginnis of

Jensen Tuna in Houma, LA Photos by Romney Caruso

pulled from the Gulf would immediately be packed in ice, which would cause its eyes to be cloudy. Because the Rouses seafood team handles so many types of fish from so many sources, they have to be meticulous. Rather than looking at eye cloudiness, a fish inspector will look at eye concavity.

Fish pulled from the sea, whether fresh or saltwater, might or might not have cloudy eyes, but a fresh fish would definitely have round and plump eyes. If the eyes are sinking in, that’s a sign of age. In addition to the vendors checking the fish the moment it is received, each fish must again pass an inspection before it even makes it through the door of your local Rouses. “We have receivers at the back of the store for all our incoming products, but that receiver is not allowed to receive seafood. They are required to call a seafood specialist to first take a look at that product and ensure that before we received it, that it meets our specifications,” Englade explains. Some fish Rouses recieves filleted before delivery, such as catfish, some Atlantic salmon, and tilapia, to name a few. To inspect them for freshness, the seafood specialists at every Rouses look at the boxes they come in to check for things like the process date and the day they were caught. Both vendors who help supply Rouses, and the Rouses team members themselves, are looking at that to ensure maximum freshness. Once the fish makes it to the display cases in Rouses seafood departments, the teams track the date it arrived, and only the freshest seafood gets sold. Anything carried for too long is rotated out, as customers need time as well to take the fish home and store it before cooking it, which can sometimes be days later.

“We want to make sure that products are going fresh to our customer. On any given day, we have fresh seafood coming in so that the customer can feel confident that what they are buying is quality, fresh seafood,” she explains. Every Rouses has the same

core seafood items — basically any seafood you can think of off the top of your head: head-on shrimp, peeled shrimp, catfish, tuna, scallops, among many others. On top of that, stores stock fish that happen to be caught at any given time; it might be drum or sheepshead or speckled trout or rockfish. “In the world of seafood, it’s day to day,” says Englade. “Just because something is in season doesn’t mean someone is going to catch it.” Weather conditions, rain, hurri- canes — those problems can be unrelenting. And when that happens, Englade and her team never rest on their laurels. “We are aggressiveandwe will have thebest products of anyone out there. We will have the avail- ability. We do that by building relationships with our vendors and fishermen.” And any seafood that Rouses doesn’t carry, but that can be commercially fished, is available for special order with 48 hours’ notice. Englade says it is fun to introduce new seafood from other areas to Rouses customers. “We keep true to our local

fishermen, making sure that we’re working with the fishermen, crawfish farmers, and our shrimp guys in the area. And we make sure that while we’re supporting local, we are also offering seafood from all over. And that’s really is my passion. And I do love it.” David W. Brown is a freelance writer whose work appears in The Atlantic , The New York Times , Scientific American and The New Yorker . His newest book, The Mission: A True Story , a rollicking adventure about a motley band of explorers on a quest to find oceans on Europa, is in bookstores now. Brown lives in New Orleans.

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Just like beef and pork, there are different cuts of fish. Our most popular cut is a fillet , a cut from the side of the fish. Depending on the type of fish, we have fillets available skin-on and skinless. A fish steak is a crosswise cut made from large fish such as salmon, tuna or halibut. We leave the vertebrae, skin and bones intact Only the Best Fish Makes the Cut at Rouses

for this cut. Most customers choose fish steaks for grilling because they hold up so well. Fish loins are the filet mignon of the seafood case. These prime cuts are taken lengthwise across the backs of large fish like tuna, swordfish and shark. They are thick and flavorful.

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S urprising friends with a new culinary delight ranks among life’s greatest pleasures for me. The thrill of vicarious discovery as they go from “I’m not so sure about this!” to grabbing a third, fourth and fifth enthusiastic bite is like reliving my own first time eating the delicacy all over again. Recently, I’ve been introducing as many people as I can to the mild, earthy flavors of Louisiana paddlefish “caviar,” gushing about why tinned Spanish sardines are mind-expandingly unctuous, and offering up the glittering, orange-hued jewels known as crab fat and roe at every family gathering. Formally known as crab tomalley — the “guts” of the crab, if you will — crab fat is the sweet-meets-briny, gelatinous and ultra-rich innards that too many home cooks (and even chefs) have long overlooked, discarding it into oblivion when they should have been serving it up at a premium on gilded shells. Perhaps most precious of all these jiggly insides is the crab roe, which appears seasonally as pinprick-sized, bubble-like egg bundles in female crabs and, depending on who you ask, could put any fine Russian caviar to shame. “Crab fat and crab roe are basically the same thing,” says Isaac Toups, owner of Toups’ Meatery in New Orleans and author of 2018’s Chasing the Gator: Isaac Toups and the New Cajun Cooking . “You can buy it, or you can harvest it yourself. Just crack open the carapace of a female crab and look for the golden nuggets. My mama likes crab roe better than the meat!” And while, like Toups’ mama, I would count myself among the minority of diners who prefer the more viscous entrails of most seafood to the actual meat itself, cracking open the carapace (read: exterior shell on a crab’s back) and rummaging around for the gem-like pocket of roe inside a

From Head to Roe By Sarah Baird

been treasure hunting for the stuff since childhood. But if you’re dedicated to going completely sea-to-plate — and getting your hands as dirty as possible along the way — there are a few tricks to remember for this labor-intensive extraction process. Some people suggest boiling your crabs before attempting to remove the roe to make the carapace easier to remove. However, doing this runs the risk of making the crab fat you’re after congeal into a goopy, not-so- tasty lump, so try to work raw if you can. Also, understand what you don’t want. While most of the unfamiliar parts of the crab’s interior are edible and delicious, the feather-like gills (or “lungs”) along the body’s interior are not for snacking. (An old wives’ tale posits that they’re toxic, but they just taste bad.) What will make your life a little easier is setting aside a small bowl dedicated to the crab tomalley before starting to work with the crabs; this keeps the messy situation more contained. After putting your freshly purchased crab to “sleep” humanely, use a sharp kitchen knife to cut out the triangle-shaped section colloquially known as the “apron” from the crab’s belly. (This makes the carapace easier to remove.) Then, it’s showtime. Place your thumbs on either side of the crab’s top shell and, approaching from the back — that’s the side without the big front claws — muster up all the hand strength you have to pop the shell right off. (Typically, this works, but if you need to use an instrument like a knife to help, there’s no shame.) Underneath the carapace, like opening a chest full of gold, you’ll

crab’s body is a little easier said than done for those of us who haven’t

“To me, the best thing to do with crab fat or roe is to make crab fat butter . It really freezes well,” says Toups. “You can then pull it out when you want and use it for crab fat rice, which I always love, especially with couvillion. It’s also great to use for roasting oysters.”

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quickly discover the warm-hued crab fat and roe you’ve worked so hard to find. Just like wine has its terroir and oysters have their signature regional bivalve flavor, the crab fat and roe from different crab varieties are surprisingly distinct. Blue crab fat skews delicate and sweet (a perfect jumping-off point for newbies), while green crab fat has a tangier, umami underbite, and Dungeness crab fat is rich and custardy. One thing all crab roe and fat have in common, though, is their health properties. Much like other types of seafood, these crab entrails are chock full of omega-3 fatty acids, which help with everything from lung functioning to cardiovascular health, as well as protein and Vitamin A. “To me, the best thing to do with crab fat or roe is to make crab fat butter. It really freezes well,” says Toups. “You can then pull it out when you want and use it for crab fat rice, which I always love, especially with couvil- lion. It’s also great to use for roasting oysters.” Couvillion — the rich, brothy tomato- based Cajun seafood stew, typically made with redfish and head-on shrimp — plated up with a heaping portion of crab fat-flavored rice is a snapshot of Gulf Coast decadence that’s unrivaled. (Bonus points if you incor- porate some of the crab fat butter into the couvillion itself!) But seafood-atop-seafood layered dishes aren’t the only way to utilize the magic of crab roe. In Vietnam, a crusty loaf of bread is often soaked in spiced crab fat then cubed and baked for a brackish bread pudding experience. Crab roe is traditionally a key ingredient in she-crab soup, and is also a popular addition to the Hong Kong breakfast porridge, congee. The roe from green crabs is called masinette in Venice and can be eaten straight from the shell, formed into a pate, or even sauteed with fresh local herbs. Many Chinese diners revere dense and creamy crab fat as “ocean gold” both for its difficulty to harvest and, of course, price. In Suzhou, an eastern Chinese city, “crab roe cream” is an ancient combination of crab roe and cream braised in Shaoxing rice wine and seasoning that’s then mixed with lard and pepper. Initially created to preserve the crab roe before the days of refrigeration, the dish has grown increasingly popular in recent years. Crab roe tofu — soft bean curd cooked in a broth of (you guessed it!)

Recipes from Chasing the Gator: Issac Toups and the New Cajun Cooking ,

available wherever cookbooks are sold.

PHOTO BY DENNY CULBERT

reached caviar levels of popularity here in the United States yet , but I’ll keep serving them up like the precious rarities they are, gaining a legion of converts one tiny spoonful at a time.

crab roe — is a summertime delicacy in the Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces and has become such a cultural touchstone that it’s a dish players can purchase (or cook!) in the role-playing adventure video game, “Genshin Impact.” And if real-deal crab fat and roe are elusive in China, snackers can always pick up crab roe-flavored sunflower seeds — a poppable staple — at conve- nience stores across the country. Perhaps most famously, the late Anthony Bourdain devoured his fair share of crab fat at the legendarily cramped, 18-seat Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco, where he ordered an off-menu item known as the “crab back” — crab roe, liver and other innards served in the back shell of the crab — with plenty of fresh sourdough for dunking into the salty, custardy brine. “Unicorn juice,” Bourdain called it, “the brains, the fat, the magic.” Toups likes to get an early start on incor- porating his crab roe-spiked compound butter into meals, adding it to

CRAB FAT BUTTER Makes 2 pounds

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 1 pound crab fat (from about 20 to 30 female crabs) 1 pound unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes, softened 2 tablespoons minced garlic 1 cup white wine Grated zest of 2 lemons 2 teaspoons ground Aleppo pepper (or paprika or crushed red pepper flakes) 2 teaspoons ground white pepper 1 teaspoon kosher salt

scrambled eggs in the morning or spreading it on biscuits. (Pro tip: Freeze your crab roe butter in an ice cube

tray for easy-to-thaw, perfectly sized biscuit- smearing portions.) So sure, crab fat and roe might not have

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GULF SEAFOOD COURTBOUILLON Serves 6

HOW TO PREP: Push crab fat through a fine mesh sieve to remove all shell particles. Chill crab fat in the fridge until ready to work with it. In a small skillet, melt one of the cubes of butter over medium heat. Add garlic and heat for 2 minutes, until aromatic. Add wine and cook over medium heat until it reduces to 2 tablespoons. mixture to a stand mixer bowl. Add crab fat, remaining butter cubes, lemon zest, Aleppo pepper, white pepper and salt. Fit the stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed for 30 seconds, until all ingredients are well incorporated, scraping down the sides once or twice. You just want to mix the butter, not whip it. (If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can mix it together by hand with a rubber spatula. Do not use a whisk.) It is done as soon as you don’t see any chunks of plain butter. Use immediately or save it by packing into a Tupperware container, rolling into logs in plastic wrap like cookie dough, or placing in a ramekin covered tightly with plastic wrap. In the fridge, it will last for a week but it freezes well when formed into logs and wrapped tightly with plastic. You can pull it out, slice off what you need, and put it back in the freezer for up to three months. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Transfer reduced wine WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 1/2 cup water 1 cup Crab Fat Butter (recipe above) 4 cups cooked white rice Kosher salt 2 bunches green onions, green tops only, finely sliced HOW TO PREP: Combine water and crab fat butter in a large cold skillet. Heat skillet over low heat, stirring occasionally, until butter has melted and dissolved into the water, but is not boiling. (It’s important to keep the heat low so the butter doesn’t break.) Gently fold in the rice over low heat, stirring occasionally until warmed, about 3 minutes. Mix in green onions. Adjust salt to taste and serve. CRAB FAT RICE Serves 6-8

the fish for an hour, until it breaks down, and add the rest of the seafood 15 minutes before it is done). Adjust salt to taste and serve over rice. Note: Chef allows 6 to 8 ounces of seafood per person, in any combination of fish, peeled shrimp, and crabmeat. He prefers flaky white fish like speckled trout or redfish, either whole filets or filets cut into 2-inch slices. (Or you can do like Maw Maw Toups and put a whole gutted and scaled fish in.) The crab will break apart to thicken and season the stew, so don’t splurge on jumbo lump; backfin or claw meat will work fine. Do pick through the crabmeat to remove any bits of shell. (Chef dips his fingers in a cup of water as he picks through the crab. The bits of shell sink to the bottom when you dip, so you don’t flick it back into the crab.) For shrimp, go with peeled and deveined extra jumbo 16/20s (that is, 16 to 20 per pound). Ratiowise, Chef tends to do equal parts by weight of fish and shrimp and go lighter on the crab because it’s expensive. BRICK ROUX Brick roux is blonde roux cooked with tomato paste. As soon as you have blonde roux, take the paste (or even tomato puree or tomatoes crushed by hand) and caramelize it with the roux. HOW TO PREP: In a Dutch oven or heavy skillet set over medium heat, make a blonde roux with the butter and flour. Once the roux is ready, add the tomato paste. Stir that in and let it caramelize until it starts sticking to the bottom. Cook it until it browns a little. I smash down the tomato paste evenly across the bottom of the pot to increase the surface area that is caramelized by the heat. This should take about 10 minutes total, and results in a brick red roux with a charred tomato flavor. Makes 3/4 cup. WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/2 cup tomato paste

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, divided 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced 1 small red bell pepper, finely diced 1 large rib celery, finely diced 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 bay leaves 7 cloves garlic, minced 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/2 cup tomato paste 1/4 cup dry white wine 6 cups fish, crab or shrimp stock 1 teaspoon picked and minced fresh thyme 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper 3 to 4 pounds mixed seafood (see note following) Jasmine rice or any medium-grain white rice, for serving HOW TO PREP: In a Dutch oven over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter until it quits bubbling. Add the trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery), salt and bay leaves, and cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sweat for 1 more minute. Remove the vegetables from the pan and reserve. Make sure you get all the vegetables out, but there’s no need to wipe or clean the pan. There’s still a lot of flavor in the fat that’s leftover. In the same Dutch oven over medium heat, make a brick roux (recipe below), using the remaining 4 tablespoons butter and the flour and adding the tomato paste once the roux hits blonde. When the tomato paste begins to brown, add the vegetables back to the pot and stir. Add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon until all the brown bits have come up. Add the stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until fully incorporated after each addition. Add the thyme, paprika, cayenne and white pepper, and stir. Bring the mixture up to a simmer over medium heat and cook uncovered for 45 minutes. Add the seafood and cook for 15 minutes, until the fish breaks apart easily. (If you are using a whole fish instead of fish filets, cook

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Your Fish Is Our Command What Rouses Certified Seafood Experts Can Do for You The next time you are at the seafood department of your local Rouses Market, be sure to take advantage of what our certified seafood experts can do for you. Here are a few ways they can help you with every type of seafood we sell. 1 Prep your fish or seafood Whether you order fish or crustaceans, the Rouses seafood team can do more than count and weigh your selection. You can get your whole fish purchase processed at no additional charge. Need your fish filleted? Let the professionals handle it for you. Want scraps for a seafood stock? Consider it done. A seafood expert will wrap your selection separately, and when you get home, it’s ready for the pot. Your wish is their command. 2 Steam or boil your seafood in-house Every seafood department at Rouses has pots prepared for boiling and steamers at the ready for any items you choose. Whether you want your seafood steamed or boiled right then or before tomorrow’s big game, the Rouses Markets team has you covered. Boiled lobster? Done. Steamed lobster? Just say the word and it’s cooked, packed up neatly, and ready for you to take home. No request is too unusual: Want your clams dropped in a crab boil for a nice Cajun kick? The Rouses certified seafood experts can do it. 3 Tell you where your seafood was caught Rouses certified seafood experts can tell you where every item of seafood that we sell was caught. Rouses keeps a list of country of origin for every item in the department. If it’s a product of the United States, or if it’s an imported product from anywhere on Earth, they can give you the information you need to know about what you are taking home and feeding to your family. 4 Give you some cooking tips We weren’t all born knowing how to boil crabs or bake salmon. Rouses has an extensive and diverse selection of seafood on offer year-round. If you want to try something new, but don’t know how to prepare it, ask a certified seafood expert! The team at Rouses can tell you the best ways to get the most flavor and best texture from your selection, as well as advice for clean handling and cooking to safe temperatures. 5 Make special orders Looking for a type of seafood that you don’t see in the display case? A Rouses certified seafood expert can help. If it swims in the water and can be fished commercially, Rouses has partners locally and around the world who can fish it from the sea just for you. Just ask us to special order it, and it’s yours!

Why You Should Primp Your Shrimp

ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT The worst part of cooking shrimp is deveining it. Indeed, the prospect of deveining a shrimp is enough to make one consider using chicken instead.

The question is: Do you really have to do it? Like, what if you just left the vein there and ate a shrimp, no questions asked?

From a food safety standpoint, there’s no need to devein shrimp. The vein, which is actually the shrimp’s intestines, is perfectly fine to eat. That said, there can be a bit of grit in there, which is contrary to the tender nature of shrimp that diners expect. Ultimately, it’s going to come down to laziness. Deveining a shrimp is the superior culinary move — soignée , as chefs say: a graceful flourish.

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HOW TO CLEaN AND EAT a LOBSTER

PHOTO BY ROMNEY CARUSO

CAJUN LOBSTER Makes 2 servings You can cook lobsters much the same way you do crawfish.

Add Rouses Cajun Smoked Sausage, corn and Brussels sprouts, and cook for 3 minutes more. Drain and serve with drawn butter.

perfect for valentine’s day!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 2 11/2 pound Maine

WHAT’S THIS HERE COCKTAIL SAUCE Makes about ¾ cup of sauce

lobsters Rouses Down the Bayou Seafood Boil 4 bay leaves 8 red potatoes, washed 1/2 pound Rouses Cajun Smoked sausage 1 cup brussels sprouts 1 ear of corn, peeled and halved HOW TO PREP: Fill a large pot two-thirds full with water. Stir in Rouses Down the Bayou Seafood Boil (it has the garlic and onion flavor you are looking for), and add potatoes, plus some bay leaves for even more Cajun flavor. Cover, and bring to a boil on high heat. Uncover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until potatoes start to soften, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the lobsters. Cover, and cook until lobster shells are bright red, 5 to 6 minutes.

We replaced the Worcestershire sauce with a mix of anchovies, lemon zest and apple cider vinegar, which gives it more kick. WHAT YOU WILL NEED: cup ketchup 3 tablespoons of drained prepared horseradish 1 tablespoon of anchovy paste 1 tablespoon of lemon zest tablespoon of apple cider vinegar Hot sauce, to taste Pinch of salt HOW TO PREP: Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl until well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary; refrigerate until chilled, at least 15 minutes. Loop the shrimp over the edge of a cocktail glass and top with the chilled sauce. Repeat. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve.

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