March-April-2018

FAMILY LETTER

OUR ITALIAN HERITAGE

My Sardinian-born great-grandfather brought his food traditions to Louisiana when he

immigrated in 1900. Like many other families on the Gulf Coast, I grew up eating Italian

and Creole Italian dishes, like

cacio e pepe

and spaghetti with red gravy.

Italy has a cultural heritage that is felt everywhere in the country, but nowhere more than

here on the Gulf Coast. One-quarter of us can trace our lineage directly back to the old

country. The Port of New Orleans was a major gateway for Italian immigrants arriving

during the New Immigration — that period between the 1880s and the 1920s that saw

Italians come to America in record numbers. Railroads helped these newcomers establish

Italian communities from Ponchatoula, Independence, Amite and Hammond, Louisiana,

to Biloxi, Mississippi, and Bayou La Batre and Daphne, Alabama.

We already stocked hundreds of Italian imports in our Rouses markets, but in the past year

we’ve made authentic Italian a priority. We traveled to Sicily, Milan, Verona, Bologna and

other Italian regions.While there, we met with individual makers and attended major food

shows and Vinitaly, the enormous annual wine and spirits exhibition.We also partnered with

the Italian Trade Agency to add hundreds more Italian imports to our shelves. Recently, we

unveiled our very own line of Italian-made products.The Rouses private label is our way of

bringing you better prices on the foods you’ve eaten your whole life, as well as delicious new

Italian foods you may not have thought of serving every day.

We make some great Italian-inspired cuisine here in the United States. But when you

go to the source for authentic Italian, where people have been making the products for

hundreds — even thousands — of years, there are strict requirements for ingredients and

manufacturing processes that govern how food is made, so you know the quality is there.

Italians, after all, are as passionate about their food culture as we are.

Donny Rouse

Generation

On the Cover

Il Formaggio — Italian Cheese

on page 18

Cover Photo by

Romney Caruso

• • •

SHOP

Look for the Delizioso logo on our

Authentic Italian items, including Italian-

made pastas, olive oils, cheeses and

preserves.

LEARN