97 SOUTHERN CAST IRON
The festival offi cially kicked off Friday night with a
performance on the main stage. We watched festival goers
take the dance fl oor two-by-two, twirling and swinging as
three Cajun and zydeco groups performed their tunes. Zydeco,
a fusion of Creole, Cajun, blues, and gospel music, is the sound
of the locals. It’s a spirited tune made up of instruments like
wash boards, accordions, and guitars, and can be heard almost
every night of the week in well-worn joints that pepper the
region. The Lost Bayou Ramblers, a Grammy-winning zydeco
band, was the talk of the town—and locals assured us it was a
performance we didn’t want to miss. After the show, we just
couldn’t wait to see what the next day would hold.Excitement was buzzing Saturday morning as cook-off
teams prepared their outdoor stations with ingredients and
giant cast-iron pots, pans, and Dutch ovens. There were fi ve
categories: gravy, gumbo, cracklin’s, jambalaya, and dessert,
and each dish had to be cooked in cast iron. Competitors began
cooking early in the day, hours before judging, off ering guests
plenty of time to meet and mingle.Every Louisianan may have their own opinion on how to
make the best gumbo or jambalaya, but most all can agree
on one thing: it takes time. We strolled between tents and
watched as one man stirred his pot with what appeared to be
a boat paddle, and nearby, another was teaching a small crowd
the diff erence between Creole and Cajun food (it has to do
with whether the dish contains tomatoes) over a Dutch oven
of meatball stew. Others were vigorously chopping tasso ham
and sealing hand pies that would later be fried and glazed.
We met families who’d been cooking together for years and
bonded with new friends over our mutual love of food and cast
iron. To these home cooks and amateur chefs, the cook-off was
more than just creating an award-winning dish—it was about
spending time with friends, a quintessential part of Creole and
Cajun culture.Meanwhile, crowds were gathering for performances
throughout the village. We crowded into the historic chapel,
La Chapelle des Attakapas, to hear four-time Grammy
nominee Cedric Watson play the accordion and sing a lively
melody accompanied by the beat of a washboard, and just
nearby, others fi lled front porches for impromptu jams. Soon,
we returned to the cooking grounds in hopes of tasting some of
the dishes that would soon be presented to judges.