You may call yourself a cracklin' fan. Maybe even a cracklin’ aficionado; but if you've never heard of Parks, La. then your authority must be called into question. You see, the small village of Parks, La—located between St. Martinville and Breaux Bridge along Bayou Teche—is the scene for the annual Parks Cracklin' Cook-off, and has been for the last thirty-eight years. You can't say you've sampled the best cracklin' till you've tried some here.
Clint Laviolette, secretary/treasurer of the Parks Cracklin' Cook-Off Association, explained that there are a lot of long-term rivalries that play out each year at the cook-off, with some of the same two-man (and two-woman) teams returning year after year to pit their cracklin' recipes against those of their adversaries. And then you have the "up-and-comers," the younger generation that shows up, trying to upset the natural order.
This is no easy task. Cracklin’ is part pig skin and part meat. Both components are necessary for a good piece of cracklin’, and it takes an experienced eye—and ear—to pinpoint the moment that the meat has reached its peak goodness, demonstrating the qualities of taste, tenderness, texture, and appearance that the judges are looking for. Laviolette has seen his fair share of charred cracklin’. "It's so easy to burn them," he explained.
Sometimes, a team's success has more to do with the preferences of the judges than some objective measurement of quality, though Laviolette noted that they've established much more strict and standardized evaluation tools for the judging. Nevertheless, a team's seasoning can make or break it, depending on whether the judge prefers his or her cracklin' spicy, mild, exotic, or what-have-you. Back in the day, the only seasoning allowed was salt. But these days, teams can do whatever they want with seasoning; and with so many competitors featuring their own proprietary, secret seasonings, the competition has as much to do with personal taste as it does with a perfectly fried piece of pork.
It's all in good fun. Though the association has instituted modest cash prizes for the first time this year, the biggest prize is really bragging rights and the knowledge that the event supports the philanthropic efforts of the association, which has supported local projects to the tune of $35,000 as well as St. Jude Children's Hospital.
This year's event, held at Cecile Rousseau Poche Memorial Park, begins Friday, April 25 at 6 pm with live entertainment until midnight. Festivities start at 10 am Saturday with more music, the cook-off competition, an iron horse poker run, fun jumps, rock climbing, and pork cooked every which way you can imagine.
