Rouses_FINAL_September-October-2017

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out of The Grove and into the stands before
the game starts. The stadium sort of fills up
during the first quarter.
I’ve always been a firm believer that, in
Oxford, we spend too much time focused
on the party and not enough time focused
on the game. I’m way too competitive to
really enjoyThe Grove, because all I’m doing
is thinking about the game. It’s not a social
event, for me. All I do is talk about the game.
I think about it like that scene in Braveheart,
where they’re feasting before the battle.I’m like,
“We’ve got to put on our battle gear.This isn’t
about smiling and being nice.We’ve got to fill
our hearts with hate for the next three hours.”
Do you like to cook on gameday?
I’ve traditionally been more of a guest. I’ve
been involved in a couple of tent groups in
the past, but I work the mornings of football
games, so it’s tough to do that and be a host
in a tent. I make it to every game, so I need
to allow for that.
Over the years, we’ve started doing informal
porch parties with our close friends and
neighbors. If folks want to stop by, great.They
can stop by and have a drink, grab something
to eat, and then we lock the house and go to
the game,and worry about everything else later.
Given a choice, do you cook fancy or
simple?
I tried to approach it as a chef early on, but
I realized that people want what people
want, and they want it simple. People want
pimiento cheese, and they want fried chicken
tenders, and they want seven-layer dip.
There are a couple of nontraditional things
folks like. My mom used to make sausage
balls. You know, biscuit mix and sausage
and cheese that you bake. We quite literally
can’t make ’em fast enough. People love
the muffalettas. We do a roasted pork loin
slider that’s just roasted sliced pork with
caramelized onions, and they just fly out
the door. But for the most part, it’s “chicken
tenders, chicken tenders, chicken tenders.”
What would you cook for a porch party at
your house?
I love jambalaya, étouffée, gumbo, grillades &
grits. All those simple things that will stick
to your ribs, fill you up. You can just grab a
bowl, eat with just a spoon in your hand.
The beautiful thing about tailgating is, it
ends up being a potluck and people develop
their own crowd favorites, and that’s what
they bring to the table.
I cook red beans & rice for everything. The
other night, someone asked me “What’s
your favorite thing to eat?” I was like, “It’s
my favorite thing to cook, too. Red beans &
rice.” I mean, it’s just that simple.
TAILGATE