Rouses_January-February-2018_60

the Mardi Gras issue

MEET ROUSES KING CAKE KREWE by Helen Freund + photos by Andrea Matherne | Collin Richie Photography

F or some, it’s the first time they hear Professor Longhair’s “Go to the Mardi Gras” playing on the radio. For others, it’s bundling up on January 6 to watch the Phunny Phorty Phellows gleefully cram into a St. Charles Avenue streetcar. But one thing that almost everyone can agree upon is that the first sighting of a sparkly purple, green and gold king cake is what really makes it official: Carnival is finally here. No Mardi Gras celebration would be complete without a king cake, and no one knows that better than Rouses Bakery Director Michelle Knight. (Last year alone,

the company sold almost 500,000 king cakes during the roughly two-month season.) The day after Christmas, Knight’s team gets to work on the store’s signature sugar- dusted purple, green and gold cakes (the colors represent, respectively, justice, faith and power). Once Carnival season gets into full swing, it’s a 24-hour operation. But king cake production at Rouses isn’t just a seasonal affair: It’s a 12-month production. Throughout the year, the cinnamon-filled cakes are both sold locally and shipped across the country to commemorate a host

of celebrations: Purple and Gold king cakes make appearances at LSU tailgating parties, shimmering Black and Gold versions for the Saints abound during football season, and the doughy confection dresses up in emerald-green for St. Patrick’s Day.The day after Thanksgiving, the Christmas-themed cakes decorated in reds and greens, plastic poinsettias and tiny Christmas trees begin hitting the shelves. For Knight and her bakery team, the days leading up toFatTuesday are,understandably, the busiest. Carnival krewes put in large orders to ensure that there’s no shortage of cake for each of their floats. Homesick

48

MY ROUSES EVERYDAY JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2018