Gumbo Cookoff

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The " Great Gumbo Cook Off "

No Where Else But The Cajun Festival

Gumbo is the dish most associated with the Cajun people. It can be described as a soup or stew with a roux base. Roux is flour and oil cooked to a golden brown. It can take a long time to cook and is usually cooked in an iron skillet to evenly distribute the heat. Many kinds of meat can used in gumbo. Seafood is a big favorite including shrimp, crab, and oysters. Crawfish, sausage, chicken, turkey, and other meats are also used. Vegetables such as peppers, celery, onion and garlic can be added to gumbo. Okra is also used by some gumbo cooks. A flavorful stock is an important ingredient.

Sampling Gumbo

The cooks will be located in an oak tree area behind the Gazebo Stage. With the food tickets you buy at the ticket booth, you give tickets to a gumbo cook and they will give you a sample of their gumbo. The gumbo judging is done by expert judges selected for their knowledge of gumbo. No politicians or media personalities here so the cooks have to make the good stuff. Festivalgoers can sample gumbo from the cooks in the cook-off. Samples are 8oz. $2.50 for non-seafood or $3.00 for seafood. We also offer a 4 ounce sample cup for $2.

Do You Want to Enter the Great Gumbo Cook-off?

If you would like to compete, the entry fee is $40. Contestants must bring at least 5 gallons of gumbo, and the cooked rice to go with it. e-mail [email protected] (210-854-3060) There are three categories: professional, amateur and culinary students. Professionals are gumbo cooks who have a restaurant, work in one, or do catering and the like. This includes people who make their living in food service. Amateurs are people who do not cook for a living. Culinary Students are those currently enrollled in a culinary program. This year we are pleased to have Kiolbassa Provisions Company sponsor the culinary division of our gumbo cookoff. The gumbo must be cooked on the grounds of the festival. You need to provide the cooked rice to go with the gumbo. The committee will provide cups, spoons, sanitary gloves and napkins. If you use seafood, you can charge $3.00 a cup. If you don't, the price is $2.50 a cup for 6 ounces. You will be given a collection can for the customers to place their food tickets in. You will be paid 70% of the value of the tickets based on the number of tickets you collect. The rest of the proceeds will be used to help fund the work of the sponsoring organization, the non-profit Lakehills Community Center.

Trophies are:

First Place Professional

Second Place Professional

First Place Amateur

Second Place Amateur

First Place Culinary

Second Place Culinary

Showmanship

Click HERE to get the Rules & Registration Entry Form

A VARIETY OF CAJUN DELICACIES

The Cajun Festival has built its reputation for featuring an incredible array of Cajun delicacies, authentically prepared, with strict attention to Cajun tradition and exacting recipes by our volunteer cooks. No expense or effort is spared in the preparation. No outside food vendors are allowed to cook Cajun Festival dishes.

Specialties include: Crawfish Pie, Crawfish Etouffee, Jambalaya, Boudin, Red Beans and Rice, Cajun Meat Pies, Cajun fried Shrimp, and Catfish. Barbecue favorites include Kiolbassa Sausage on a stick, Boudin Poppers. Desserts include: Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce, Pecan Pralines, Pecan Tarts and Buttermilk tarts and assorted cakes.

"You'll Love The Friendly Atmosphere, Great Music and Of Course Delicious Cajun Food!"