Untitled – Big pots and
 world champs

Spring food festivals are as common as mosquitoes in Louisiana. Not a Saturday goes by when you can’t locate a gathering where throngs of happy people are celebrating some aspect of the state’s sprawling culinary roster. Gulf seafood, crawfish, suckling pig and more play starring roles at these community events, where thousands gather. Ascension Parish’s annual Jambalaya Festival in May is one of the oldest festivals in the state, and it stands out for its staying power, cheery vibe and intractable enthusiasm for a simple, but tricky, dish.

Held annually on Memorial Day weekend in Gonzales, the Jambalaya Festival got started in 1968, the same year that Gov. John McKeithen declared the area the Jambalaya Capital of the World. The branding effort was the brainchild of several community leaders who decided the prevalence of great home-cooked jambalaya was distinct enough to market.

“The festival is a huge draw, and it is a really big deal for the community,” says organizer Scott Duplechein. “Jambalaya is a big part of who we are.”


The free Jambalaya Festival features four days of events that include live music and entertainment, carnival rides, food booths, a 5K run and a car show. But the festival is particularly known for its World Jambalaya Cook-Off, a serious affair that requires skill and stamina. Its arduous rules are intended to reveal the one cook that year whose jambalaya can legitimately edge out the competition.

Winners don’t prevail with fancy ingredients or secret spices. In fact, the event requires contestants to cook with the same ingredients: vegetable oil, aromatic vegetables, hot sauce, basic spices, rice, water and chicken. No sausage or other proteins or flavorings are allowed. The amount of rice and chicken are strictly controlled by the Jambalaya Festival Association, which provides the ingredients. This kind of intense standardization is what makes the contest so difficult to win. That and the fact that the jambalaya must be cooked over a hardwood fire in a regulation cast iron pot and stirred with a paddle. No propane is allowed.

“By the time you get to the final heat, everybody is a great cook, and all the jambalaya is good,” says Jody Elisar, a former contest winner and current judge. “When we’re judging, we’re looking for the tiniest mistake.”


Overall flavor is a big part of the judging process, but so is color and texture. A good jambalaya is the shade of a brown paper bag, says Elisar, and it should be cooked evenly and properly through each grain of rice. No grains should be firm and crunchy. On the other hand, they can’t be gummy and overcooked. Judges are looking for a perfect, uniform middle ground that shows a cook can really cook.

Elisar grew up cooking jambalaya and made the finals of the contest 18 times before finally winning top honors in 2008. The next year, he returned and was named Champ of Champs, the top prize at the competition earned in a special face off among past winners. Today, Elisar remains an avid jambalaya caterer—he recently cooked for Bayou Bash, the annual LSU Football recruiting party, and he has his own jambalaya mix called Jody’s Jambalaya.


“Cooking a jambalaya is such a big part of who we are as a community,” says Elisar. “I never get tired of it … and the festival is the place to experience it.”

For more information on the event, set for May 24-27, visit 
jambalayafestival.org.