25 Days of Christmas: 'Tis the season to eat and be Merry

It's the most delicious time of the year and in South Mississippi our Christmas menu is like no other.

"Yes we know that. We're very fortunate to live down here," said Tim Acosta, marketing and advertising director for Rouse's Supermarkets.

Rouses sells and boils more Louisiana crawfish than anyplace in the country and Acosta said, "We have our own Rouses' oysters and a large fresh shipment of Gulf Coast shrimp coming into the stores right now."

The busiest time of the year in the food business is from Thanksgiving right through to New Year's. The grocery stores, the fish markets and produce shops have the ingredients needed to prepare a feast -- or several holiday dinners -- with your family recipes. Or they'll do all the work for you.

Seafood is on the Christmas menu

Jeff Mattina stopped at Desporte & Sons Seafood on Division Street in Biloxi on Monday for marinated shrimp.

"I get them all the time," he said. "It's cooked and ready to eat." Christmas day his kids will have traditional turkey and ham for lunch. On Christmas night they come to his house for seafood.

Sean Desporte is fifth generation in the business that's been in his family for over 120 years. His Thanksgiving dinner included tuna dip, crabmeat au gratin, boiled shrimp and gumbo and his girlfriends' family from Houston declared it "an awsome treat," he said. For Christmas he'll add char-grilled oysters.

Shrimp gumbo is popular, too

Stephanie Hilton of D'Iberville was browsing Quality Poultry and Seafood on Division Street in Biloxi on Monday looking for something to add to her holiday dinner.

"I'm having a whole smorgasbord," she said. "We always have crab claws. It's a tradition down here." Also on the table will be shrimp potato salad, ham and bacon-wrapped oysters.

Mike Blduler helps people choose the ingredients at Quality Poultry & Seafood and was selling gumbo. "A lot of gumbo," he said, with or without sausage and in quarts and gallons.

Many people in South Mississippi use their own recipe so gumbo shrimp is the biggest seller at the store this time of year along with jumbo crab "and believe it or not -- crawfish." It's early this year.

Stuffed chicken, Turducken

They also are selling lots of de-boned chicken stuffed with crabmeat dressing, and Turducken -- a turkey, duck and chicken baked together and stuffed with crabmeat dressing. Blduler said it's typically baked but the staff also smokes it on site.

"A lot of people are buying up oysters," he said. "They're very salty right now," which he said makes them very good for dressing.

Fresh produce, anyone?

All those great recipes need fresh ingredients and Mike Alise, owner of Gulf Coast Produce, said his wholesale business is supplying Coast casinos and restaurants. His retail shop on Edgewater Drive in Biloxi has the fresh trinity vegetables for gumbos and dressing, plus nuts, fruit and fresh herbs.

"For the produce business it's a good time of the year," he said. Satsumas, apples and oranges are going into fruit baskets and stockings and once Christmas is over, the attention turns to ingredients for New Year's Eve parties and cabbage and black eyed peas on New Year's Day. After the first of the year, "That's when the salad craze kicks in," he said.

Pastries are good

For now, shoppers are stopping at French Kiss Pastries at Edgewater Mall for a coffee and pastry pick-me-up. There and at the shops in Long Beach and Ocean Springs, the cannolis, eclairs and giant cookies are great treats for Santa and his helpers, and decadent yule logs are the centerpiece of Christmas dinner.

Other specialties

Rouses markets in Gulfport, Ocean Springs and Diamondhead have everything from seasonings and sauces created by Tory McPhail, executive chef at Commander's Palace in New Orleans, to their own Christmas king cake with assorted fillings. Customers need to hurry if they want one of the store's seafood eggplant, oyster Bienville and spinach cornbread stuffings, or one of the corn pudding or other casseroles.

Gourmet pecan pie is a favorite for Christmas, cabbage, black eyed peas and pork roast for New Year's and then it will be time to "Eat Right" at Rouses, where at the beginning of the year the store's dietitians will mark 500 items to make it easier for customers to make the right decision about what to eat.

Casino buffets

In South Mississippi, crab legs also are on the Christmas menu. The casino buffets will be serving feasts for the holidays and for those who want something more international, IP Casino Biloxi, for instance, has rabbit loin at Thirty-Two, Asian marinated beef at Tien, stuffed shells at Coast Cucina and Coca-Cola glazed ham at High Tide Cafe.

South Mississippi's menu is among the most unusual holiday menus you'll find.

This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 11:00 PM with the headline "25 Days of Christmas: 'Tis the season to eat and be Merry ."