Morrell was my mother’s
family name, a surname of French origin. Her given name, Vera, is not French,
but rather a Slavic name meaning “Faith.” In Latin it means “Truth.” (A very
fitting name for her, I might add.) Had my grandparents been more in touch with
their roots, they could have kept the initial, “V” but named her a French name
such as Victore, Vivien, or Veronique.
The French in Mom was evidenced
by one of her cooking skills, namely, the making of roux. Long before cooking
shows and recipes peppered with French vocabulary ruled the world of cookery,
Mom made roux. The fact that she didn’t call it roux was no doubt because of
her lack of familiarity with the French language. She simply called it,
“thickener.”
Mom made all kinds of roux:
butter and flour roux for the White Sauce (Béchamel
Sauce to the French) used in scalloped potatoes and soups; pan drippings and
flour roux for fried chicken or fried pork chop gravy, shortening and flour roux
for pot roast gravy; bacon grease and flour roux for gravy to put over our
biscuits.
While I was growing up, gravies
of all kinds were a regular part of the menu at our house. This has made me
wonder why the kids in our family were not extremely obese. I’ve decided that
was because Mom cooked with a simple thickener rather than that fattening French
roux. Just a theory!
Little Roux kids with their
parents in Bladen, Nebraska (1938). Little sis came along nine years later.
Roux kids all grown up
(2006). Ilene, David, & Vee
