Gwendolyn R. Nelson-Bichard is out to fire up your culinary imagination.
Nelson-Bichard is CEO of Genell Rose Inc., a family-owned business in Putnam, Conn., that creates authentic New Orleans’ Creole sauces.
Eight of E.W’s Creole food products are on the shelves in local supermarkets, including Price Chopper and Stop & Shop. The label on all the products bears a picture of a chef, Everett W. Nelson Sr., Nelson-Bichard’s late father.
Nelson-Bichard grew up in New Orleans, where her father worked in the food industry and developed his original sauce recipes.
Nelson-Bichard’s story is bittersweet.
She relocated to Massachusetts 12 years ago after earning a master’s and Ph.D. in chemistry with computer applications. Nelson-Bichard and her husband, Frank Bichard, invited her father to live with them in 1993 after his wife died.
“Dad was bored with just sitting around the house,” Nelson-Bichard explained. “I suggested he mass produce his Creole sauces, and the idea appealed to him.”
Genell Rose was incorporated in 1994, and the wholesale and retail business got off the ground in 1997. Frank Bichard became vice president of sales and marketing for Genell Rose. By 1998, Nelson-Bichard decided to leave her full-time job to focus on the family business. At that time, there were only two food products, Nelson-Bichard said, “but it was still crazy with all the trade shows, product demos and advertising.”
Nelson-Bichard said her family’s intention was to slowly develop more and more of her father’s recipes.
In 2000, Nelson-Bichard’s only child died unexpectedly at 29 from cardiomyopathy (a heart condition). “I had so much love from family, especially my husband and my father, but my grief from my son’s death was overwhelming,” Nelson-Bichard said.
After her son’s death, Nelson-Bichard wrote a book, “Death, the Ultimate Wake Up Call (A Message of Life),” a paperback sold for $20.95 on Amazon.com.
“The process of writing the book was cathartic,” Nelson-Bichard said.
In 2002, Nelson-Bichard’s father suffered a massive heart attack. “I helped my father through rehabilitation, and in 2004 I hired a full-time companion and caregiver for him,” Nelson-Bichard said. “It was only when my father said, ‘Let’s start up the business again,’ that I was ready to go back to work.”
Nelson-Bichard’s father died last year, but she said she is “so happy” that she spent “quality” time with him. “Talking about food and recipes was fun,” she said. “He knew so much about cooking, especially Creole cooking. He also was a fabulous baker. His wedding cakes have been featured in magazines.”
Nelson-Bichard said she was able to show her father the first of each product in the line before his death. “I wanted him to know that his legacy would continue to live,” Nelson-Bichard said.
E.W’s Creole recipes are unique, according to Nelson-Bichard. “The all-purpose sauce is dynamite,” she said. It comes in mild, hot and spicy hot varieties. At Price Chopper stores, the all-purpose sauce costs $3.89.
“Spicy hot will blow the roof off your mouth,” Nelson-Bichard said with a twinkle in her eyes. “You can eat the mild flavored sauce right out of the jar.”
Nelson-Bichard said her line of sauces is perfect for busy home cooks, and all of them are user-friendly. The shrimp sauce can be used with other seafood, such as lobster meat or crab meat.
“Sauces can be combined with meat, or a little pasta or rice, a steamed vegetable or tossed greens, and you have a quick and tasty meal,” Nelson-Bichard said.
“Let your imagination go crazy.”
The shrimp sauce sells for $4.99 a bottle as does the marinade sauce, barbecue wing sauce, barbecue rib sauce and salad dressing.
Mohegan Sun Hotel Casino uses E.W.’s Creole Barbecue Rib Sauce on ribs featured in its buffet line, according to Nelson-Bichard.
We should have predicted Nelson-Bichard’s answer when we asked her if she liked to cook. “Are you kidding,” she said. “Honey, I’m from New Orleans.”
Nelson-Bichard said she and her family support the rebuilding of New Orleans, and have helped family and friends relocate after Hurricane Katrina. “So many people are trying to get their lives back together,” she said. “My father was buried back home 24 hours before Katrina hit. I am so grateful.”
For more information about the company, and the difference between Creole and Cajun food, go to
www.ewcreolefood.com.
