Cold Cookoff, Warm Gumbo
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now. com Editor
Gumbo pots filled with roux were bubbling enthusiastically Saturday as 38 teams competed for the top cooking awards during the annual Cook-Off event held at the Yambilee agricultural arena.
It was quite an appropriate day for ladling chicken or hen gumbo and sausage ingredients as near freezing temperatures bolstered by chilly wind gusts, sliced through the entrances of a dirt-floored arena filled with aromas of South Louisiana’s most prodigious cold weather dish.
Live bands with guitarists fingering steel strings despite cold hands, multiplied the sensory experience, as they provided sounds that overrode the smells trapped underneath the cooking tents.
Event directorTimothy Marks said Cookout proceeds this year will assist medical expenses for Ashley Hatcher, who is undergoing treatments at Mary Bird Perkins and Opelousas General South Campus facilities.
Marks said that despite the weather conditions, he was happy with the overall event turnout that included competition costs for cooking teams, door prizes, gift cards and auction items as well as trophies for parka-attired chefs who hovered over creations simmering in either traditional blackpots or other types of metal cookware.
What The Chefs Said
Most of the cooking was protected by enclosures that used the warmth and cooking strength from the propane-generated heat.
Allie Dupont and Tracy Broussard of LeBeau were part of a team that relied primarily on fresh sources for their dish.
“Everything we have is homemade, the roux, stock, sausage. That’s for the better flavor. We have turkey necks in there too,” Broussard said.
The chicken gumbo was enhanced, Dupont said, by browning the meat as part of the preparation process.
Over at the Turner Industries enclosure, team supervisor Kyle Guillory and cooking partner Nick Bellon, flavored their gumbo with Kerry’s roux.
There were a number of other items poured into the pot, Guillory added.
“We had a lot of spices, red pepper, black pepper, along with bell peppers and onions. There was some Louisiana hot sauce that we thought belonged,” said Guillory.
Guillory said Bellon, who are from the Eunice and Ville Platte area, chose to use hen rather than chicken.
“We think it’s a better look, because if you use a hen, you are able to cook longer,” Guillory noted.
Palmetto Elementary was represented by a group that included Amanda Callier.
Calliet said the school-team also preferred a hen, whose flavor was augmented by tasso.
Also floating in the pot were turkey necks, homemade sausage, shallots, bell peppers, parsley and other types of seasoning, Callier said.
Cooks for Edward Jones were cultivating their chicken gumbo, with a few deviations.
There was home broth that was used as gumbo stock, but like most of the cooks, fresh sausage was the preferred complement for the Edward Jones chicken. Cold Cookoff, Warm Gumbo
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now. com Editor
Gumbo pots filled with roux were bubbling enthusiastically Saturday as 38 teams competed for the top cooking awards during the annual Cook-Off event held at the Yambilee agricultural arena.
It was quite an appropriate day for ladling chicken or hen gumbo and sausage ingredients as near freezing temperatures bolstered by chilly wind gusts, sliced through the entrances of a dirt-floored arena filled with aromas of South Louisiana’s most prodigious cold weather dish.
Live bands with guitarists fingering steel strings despite cold hands, multiplied the sensory experience, as they provided sounds that overrode the smells trapped underneath the cooking tents.
Event directorTimothy Marks said Cookout proceeds this year will assist medical expenses for Ashley Hatcher, who is undergoing treatments at Mary Bird Perkins and Opelousas General South Campus facilities.
Marks said that despite the weather conditions, he was happy with the overall event turnout that included competition costs for cooking teams, door prizes, gift cards and auction items as well as trophies for parka-attired chefs who hovered over creations simmering in either traditional blackpots or other types of metal cookware.
What The Chefs Said
Most of the cooking was protected by enclosures that used the warmth and cooking strength from the propane-generated heat.
Allie Dupont and Tracy Broussard of LeBeau were part of a team that relied primarily on fresh sources for their dish.
“Everything we have is homemade, the roux, stock, sausage. That’s for the better flavor. We have turkey necks in there too,” Broussard said.
The chicken gumbo was enhanced, Dupont said, by browning the meat as part of the preparation process.
Over at the Turner Industries enclosure, team supervisor Kyle Guillory and cooking partner Nick Bellon, flavored their gumbo with Kerry’s roux.
There were a number of other items poured into the pot, Guillory added.
“We had a lot of spices, red pepper, black pepper, along with bell peppers and onions. There was some Louisiana hot sauce that we thought belonged,” said Guillory.
Guillory said Bellon, who are from the Eunice and Ville Platte area, chose to use hen rather than chicken.
“We think it’s a better look, because if you use a hen, you are able to cook longer,” Guillory noted.
Palmetto Elementary was represented by a group that included Amanda Callier.
Calliet said the school-team also preferred a hen, whose flavor was augmented by tasso.
Also floating in the pot were turkey necks, homemade sausage, shallots, bell peppers, parsley and other types of seasoning, Callier said.
Cooks for Edward Jones were cultivating their chicken gumbo, with a few deviations.
There was home broth that was used as gumbo stock, but like most of the cooks, fresh sausage was the preferred complement for the Edward Jones chicken.
