Lucie Monk Carter
In any good community, everyone brings their own “something special” to the pot. In Breaux Bridge, they just go ahead and bring the whole pot, especially when it comes to the city's annual Jambalaya Cookoff! This celebration of the beloved Louisiana dish draws locals and visitors alike with the promise of (somewhat) cooler fall weather, community spirit, and, of course, all manner of jambalaya.
Saturday, September 29, teams of jambalaya chefs from seasoned cookoff vets to sizzling amateurs will converge on Parc des Ponts to show Breaux Bridge what's cookin'. With the competition now in its ninth year, cooks are finding themselves upping the ante and thinking outside the pot to ensure their batch makes its mark—take for instance 2017's overall winner, a jambalaya-stuffed BBQ burrito.
This spirit of competitive camaraderie encourages teams to bring their very best and highlight the lagniappe flair Breaux Bridge adds to an already distinctive style of cooking, according to Kristine Devillier, 2017 and 2018 treasurer for the Breaux Bridge Chamber of Commerce.
“The teams are really excited—many already have their game plans set up,” says Devillier. “They're looking for that certain special thing that will give them the edge.”
Twenty-five to thirty teams are expected to compete across the cookoff's three categories: seafood, meat, and “unique.” Attendees will have the opportunity to sample jambalaya of all types, from the traditional (with or without tomato) to the popular pastalaya to the less conventional varieties sporting ingredients from white beans to crawfish. Well worth the $10 general admission, and kids twelve and under get in free.
But while the jambalaya is obviously in the forefront of everyone's mind and (and appetite), there's plenty to keep hungry feasters occupied until the first tasting at noon and up through the awards ceremony at 3 o'clock. Live music from High Performance and Louisiana Gold with Damon Troy and Randal James will keep toes tapping all day, and arts and crafts vendors are set to appease those with an appetite for crafts and local pizzazz as well.
The Jambalaya Cookoff festivities will run from 8 am to 4 pm, so get your forks ready to jam all day! For more information, or to sign up to stir the pot yourself, check out bbajam.com.
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