Threatening skies and a busy Saturday calendar weren’t enough to derail this year’s Downtown Cajun Cook-Off, which went on without a hitch despite competing for attention with the Azalea Trail Run and Callaghan’s St. Paddy’s Day street party. The sun broke through long enough to make for a comfortable afternoon as pots simmered and bands played for the crowd that turned out last Saturday.
The cook-off benefits the Child Advocacy Center of Mobile, meaning every ticket and every bite sold supports the organization’s work regardless of which team takes home the trophy. Still, the competition among the cooking teams was as fierce as ever, and this year produced a few surprises among the winners.
Advanced Disposal claimed first place with a Catfish Acadian dish that one rival competitor described as tasting like “an awesome crawfish etouffee with sort of a catfish nugget.” Second place went to last year’s champions, a team known as The Garage, made up of Boudreaux, Boudreaux, Boudreaux and Bennie, for their Rougarou Maque Choux. Wind Creek Casino rounded out the top three, taking third with etouffee-covered fried green tomatoes.
Organizers and competitors alike described a friendly, supportive atmosphere among the teams despite the stakes, with cooks trading encouragement even as they vied for the podium. Event organizers are already looking ahead to a third year of the cook-off, hoping for another stretch of cooperative weather.
Events like the Cajun Cook-Off have become a fixture of Mobile’s spring calendar, giving local restaurants, caterers and civic-minded businesses a chance to showcase Gulf Coast cooking traditions, from etouffee to maque choux, while raising money for a cause that serves some of the community’s most vulnerable children.