In Ascension Parish, jambalaya is a local tradition and year-round favorite. But jambalaya’s biggest weekend of the year happens during the annual Gonzales Jambalaya Festival.
The festival returns May 26 through May 28 at 219 S. Irma Blvd., Gonzales.
“In Ascension Parish and Gonzales, when you have a wedding, a baby shower, a funeral or just a get-together, everybody’s cooking jambalaya,” says Wally Taillon, who has been president of the Jambalaya Festival Association since 1999.
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The association organized the first Jambalaya Festival in June 1968. The festival typically draws 60,000 attendees
At the festival, other attractions include music, carnival rides, arts and crafts, a 5K and 1-mile fun run, and the Teen Queen and Miss Gonzales Jambalaya Pageants. Because the Gonzales Civic Center was damaged by flooding in August, this year’s pageants will be held on the festival’s main outdoor stage.
The musical lineup this year features 20 acts on two stages. Marc Broussard, a nationally known neo-soul recording artist from Carencro, headlines the festival’s main stage Saturday at 10:30 p.m. Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters top the main stage bill Sunday at 9:30 p.m.
Of course, the star of the Jambalaya Festival is always jambalaya, a Cajun-Creole dish made from meat, rice and seasonings. More than 100 cooks compete in the World Champion Jambalaya Cooking Contest—meaning guests will have a huge variety to try.
“We cook jambalaya differently than say, Baton Rouge or New Orleans or Gramercy,” says Taillon, winner of the festival’s 1999 jambalaya cooking contest. “We have it perfected, down to a science.”
Jambalaya cooks in Ascension use less meat than Baton Rouge cooks, Taillon explains. That difference allows a better balance between the meat and the rice. Ascension Parish cooks also use less celery and bell peppers, for instance. And herbs of the kind used in Italian cuisine are frowned upon.
Jambalaya cooking contest judges look for specific qualities in jambalaya, Taillon says.
“The jambalaya should be a certain color. We should be able to see the seam in the swollen and split grain of rice. And you don’t want broken pieces of meat in it. You don’t want big pieces of bell pepper or celery, which will dominate the flavor. Chicken should be the predominate flavor in the rice. And then you have an overall flavor and texture of the rice.”
The Jambalaya Festival Association requires contestants to follow 14 contest rules. Rule No. 1 covers the specific, increasing quantities of rice and chicken to be used by the two-person cooking teams during the three rounds of competition. The finalists, for instance, must include 60 pounds of chicken and 20 pounds of rice. Other ingredients and seasonings can include yellow onions, green onions, red hot sauce, celery and black pepper.
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Cooking jambalaya in cast-iron pots over firewood requires much concentration.
“It’s all about controlling the heat,” Taillon says. “With the three-and-a half-hour time limit to cook that amount of jambalaya, the cook and the helper better know what they’re doing.”
May the best jambalaya cook win.