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A twist of fate contributed to Chisesi becoming the most widely recognized ham in Louisiana. Chisesi’s main competitor in the cured meat business in the early 1980s was Schott’s, a local, family-run company with a loyal following that had been in business in the city since 1879. A fire at the Schott facility right before the holidays prevented the company from filling orders, and customers turned to Chisesi as an alternative. These customers soon discovered that they liked what they tasted. Within two years, the heirs of the Schott company sold the business, including its recipes, to Chisesi, which still distributes some of the Schott products including its popular chili meat. The Chisesi family is proud to keep the Schott name alive, recognizing as they do the value of local connections. It was also around this time that the relationship with Rouses and Chisesi really began to grow, particularly as Rouses itself began to grow. “Oh, we have been supplying products to Rouses for a long time, almost from the beginning,” recalls Philip. “We sold to them when they had just the first store.” What impressed the Chisesis back then was how Anthony Rouse built his business from the ground up in a way that was familiar — because it was how they did it too. “Mr. Anthony was hands-on, no doubt about it,” Philip continued. “He would do the grunt work right along with the others” when they started building the stores in Houma, undoubtedly contributing to the grocery chain’s great success. Nick smiles when he explains trips down to Houma when he was a young salesman in the late 1980s: “I remember walking into that Rouses Number One, and the house behind it was where you had the meeting rooms…and the bedrooms and the kitchen were offices. In those days Mr. Zerengue was the guy who handled chickens, and you would walk over to his office and do business.” The family quality of the business makes it an easy relationship to maintain. “I think we’ve helped each other,” Nick says. He emphasizes that Chisesi is proud to supply a local product to Rouses that their customers like, and that Rouses is a good partner in helping them reach that market because the two companies share the same values. Both companies have grown in creative ways since Hurricane Katrina, but it was not without significant challenges at Chisesi, which lost 2.5 million pounds of meat in one day. “The cavalry isn’t coming,” Philip told his sons in those difficult days. “We have to do it ourselves.” And they did: After cleaning out a warehouse that even the USDA inspector refused to enter, they managed to get opera- tions up and running, remarkably meeting their goal of turning out their first ham a week before Thanksgiving of 2005. Why? “It’s what we do,” the Chisesi men replied. Chisesi’s Pride, like Rouses, is a multigenerational local family business, with the fifth generation of Nick and Cody running day-to-day operations, while a sixth generation is coming up in the wings. And so it is, too, with their employees. Their longest-serving employee has worked at Chisesi for 56 years, beginning her career at the old facility on Galvez Street. Walk through the shop floor at the company’s current Jefferson Highway location, and it’s easy to encounter personnel who have been with the family 30 or more years. They are as proud of the work they do as their employers are. The family is hopeful about the future and some of its more recent innovations. These include partnerships with the fabled Louisiana spice Tony Chachere’s, while more locally they’ve teamed up with chefs from the Hogs for the Cause charity to develop a special- recipe sausage — and a percentage of the profits of this sausage go towards children’s brain cancer research. Both products are distrib- uted regionally by Rouses. More recently, the company has become involved in National Sandwich Day (which locally manifests itself in the po-boy), often at events built around constructing the “world’s longest” variety. “I have a goal,” says Nick. “I want to make a po-boy that wraps around the Superdome.”

Ham & Cheese Po-Boys Makes 10 sandwiches WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

5 loaves French bread Mayonnaise, to taste 4 pounds root beer glazed Chisesi Ham (recipe below) 1 pound Swiss cheese, thinly sliced

Shredded lettuce Sliced tomatoes Sliced pickles

HOW TO PREP: Slice each loaf in half lengthwise and crosswise. Thickly layer each bottom half with ham and cheese, and top with lettuce, tomatoes and pickles. Spread each top half of bread loaf with mayonnaise, and place each on top of its bottom. Root Beer Glazed Ham WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 24 ounces root beer

1½ tablespoons Rouses Pepper Jelly 1½ tablespoons Pickapeppa Sauce 6 cloves 1 stick cinnamon ½ orange, peel and juice ½ lemon, peel only 1 bay leaf 1 (4- to 5-pound) Chisesi Ham

3 cup dark brown sugar ½ teaspoon dry mustard

HOW TO PREP: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine root beer, pepper jelly, Pickapeppa, cloves, cinnamon, orange peel and juice, lemon peel and bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 30 minutes. Remove pan from heat and strain the mixture, discarding any solids. Pour the liquid back into the pan and cook, over medium-low heat, until the liquid is reduced to about ½ cup and is thick enough to coat a spoon, about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the ham on a rack in a disposable aluminum foil pan. Using a knife, score the top half of the ham in a crisscross pattern. Spoon the glaze over the entire ham to completely moisten the surface. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and the dry mustard. Using your hands, pat the mixture all over the ham. Pour ½ cup of water into the pan. Bake until the ham reaches an internal temperature of 160°F on a meat thermometer, about 3 to 4 hours. While the ham is baking, spoon some of the glaze over it, allowing it to dribble down the sides, at 15-minute intervals, until the glaze is used up. Add more water to the pan as needed to keep the ham from getting dry. Transfer the ham to a work surface. Let it rest, uncovered, for about 30 minutes before carving.

40 MARCH•APRIL 2020