“A Happy Pot is an Empty Pot”

Dutch oven societies give the spirit of the pot luck a regional flare

by

Cuisine

Time slows down on Saturday mornings when the Latanier Cookers gather to light the coals and start prepping for the monthly Dutch Oven Gathering at Palmetto Island State Park.

“It’s all about meeting, greeting, cooking, and eating,” said Danny Meaux, founder and head of the Latanier Cookers, who take their name from the Louisiana French word for “palmetto.” Meaux is also the former president of the Louisiana Dutch Oven Society.

This writer spent a Saturday with the group–learning a few of the techniques of Dutch oven cooking and enjoying the camaraderie amongst the cookers as they fed over 150 people who came out of the palmetto-filled woods to enjoy the feast.  

As a Boy Scout, Meaux had dabbled in baking cobblers and “black bottom biscuits” in a cast iron pot over an open fire. Many years later, and miles away on a bow-hunting trip for elk in the Blackfoot Mountains of Idaho, he was inspired by the field cook who prepared everything in black iron Dutch ovens.

Meaux returned home to find there were Dutch oven societies in Louisiana and started his own at the state park less than a half hour from his home in Meaux, Louisiana. They’ve been gathering regularly there for thirteen years.

Carlene Meaux, the group’s PR person and Danny’s wife, said that when she was young, her father instilled in their family the tradition of veiller.  “We’d go visiting and have coffee with friends; something might be cooking on the stove. Saturday mornings are like that. You sit, you talk, you exchange recipes. It’s a fellowship.”

“Dutch oven cooking” is technically preparing food in a lidded pot of some sort of cast metal. Most explanations of the “Dutch” descriptor lead back to a method of casting iron that originated in Holland. Some cookers prefer caste aluminum for its comparative light weight, but a thick pot with a lid is a must for the low and slow cooking method.

That day, eighteen cookers watched over their lidded pots with the help of spouses, cousins, friends, and curious onlookers. Many of them made a weekend of it, staying in the park’s campground. They gathered under festival-style tents in the parking lot on the edge of the woods, guarded by a larger-than-life sculpture of a Louisiana black bear. Barely perceptible wisps of smoke occasionally rose from the cauldron-style pots, but no visible flames were to be seen.

“Where’s the fire?”

Richard Thibodeaux pointed underneath his three-legged pot, where nine coals smoldered and precisely eighteen sat atop the lid specifically designed with high sides to hold them. Known as the best baker of the group, he was using a charcoal heat chart to achieve the precise temperature he needed for a blueberry sweet dough pie. To adjust for weather and wind and without missing a word of conversation, every fifteen minutes he would give the pot a quarter turn clockwise then turn the lid a quarter turn counterclockwise. 

“However it comes out, that’s how it’s supposed to be,” he said, “A happy pot is an empty pot—that’s the goal.”

All food is donated by the cookers, each making enough to offer a taste. Someone always makes a larger main dish to ensure everyone eats well. That day, it was jambalaya. Attendees pay only the $3 park entry fee and are asked to bring a dish to share, whether it was made in a Dutch oven or not. Like most potlucks, it didn’t actually matter if you brought a dish; everyone was welcome to fill their plate after a prayer, the pledge, and a loud, “Allons manger!” proclaimed over the bullhorn.

Repeat guests know to bring their own dishes, and discerning diners bring muffin tins to manage the wide variety of samplings like camp stew, peach cobbler, and black eyed peas with sausage. To help pay for disposable plates and forks, the group holds a multi-prize raffle.

“Our one rule is, ‘No rude behavior,’ and we’ve never had a problem,” said Meaux as he served up the last of the jambalaya to a couple from Kansas city—cyclists who were spending their third springtime in the state park who said, “The food is great and everyone is so friendly.”

Such Dutch Oven Gatherings happen all over the country, with chapters existing in over twenty states. This writer had the chance to communicate with Brent Bolton of Ohio, the founder of the US Dutch Oven Society, who was still singing the praises of the delicious “crayfish [sic] étouffée” he’d tasted at a national DOG held in Rayne in 2023. (Louisiana will host the 2027 national DOG September 30 through October 2 at the Ruston Sports Complex.) 

Bolton noted that Louisiana has an abundance of chapters, second only to Texas (perhaps a per-square-mile analysis is in order). He cites various reasons for this high number:  the exceptionally good year-round weather, the abundance of foods that respond well to cast iron cooking, the long standing cultural history of outdoor gatherings with live fire cooking, excellent management at the state level of the DOS, as well as the amazing cooperation from the state park system, which supports the gatherings.

Traveling Dutch oven connoisseurs could spend every Saturday of the month being well fed while enjoying the state’s natural beauty in both south and north Louisiana. 

To plan your meals in the Louisiana wilds, see the schedule, or visit the programs and events page at lastateparks.com. For regularly updated DOG information, each chapter maintains a Facebook page.

Find a recipe for Dutch Oven Pineapple Upside Down Cake, here. 

Dutch Oven Gatherings Across Louisiana 

First Saturdays

  • Cajun Creole Cookers are at Lake Fausse Point State Park in St. Martinville.
  • Central Louisiana Dutch Oven Cookers are at Indian Creek Recreation Area in Woodworth.

Second Saturdays

  • Bayou Pots are at Lake Bistineau State Park in Doyline.
  • Latanier Cookers are at Palmetto Island State Park in Abbeville.

Third Saturdays

  • D’Arbonne Dutch Oven Cookers are at Lake D’Arbonne State Park in Farmersville.
  • Wego Cookers are at Bayou Segnette State Park in Westwego.

Fourth Saturdays

  • Le Chien Cookers are at Sam Houston Jones State Park in Lake Charles.