Cooks will gather April 14 for 'Cast Iron Cook-Off'

By CASEY COLLIER
Centerville High School’s second Annual Cast Iron Cook-Off is set for April 14.
The faculty, Parent Teacher Organization and Agriculture Department at Centerville High School are sponsoring their Second Annual Cast Iron Cook-Off and 5K Fun Run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the area behind CHS and the old gymnasium, in Centerville.
CICO organizer and CHS Ag Department Head Steve Nugent said that students will be helping not only with the competition, but also with a few other booths, including booths for funnel cakes, snowballs and smoked boudin, which they will make in the meat center themselves, and which is purported to be fantastic.
Alongside those facilitations, students have also contributed their talents in crafting the cast iron awards for the winners of the cook-off contest. The awards will don the artist’s work.
As far as Nugent is concerned, the students are vital to the operation of the day, and he said he would like to see them running the entire franchise, in the future.
He said of the history of the festivities, “We had been thinking about this for several years.
“The principal and I sat down and thought we needed something to tie the community together, and to put more focus on the school and the community, to take more of a role in helping out, to be aware of the role of the school as a central unit in the community.”
Nugent referred to the impetus for the cook-off as being grounded in the fact that here in South Louisiana, “everybody likes to cook and eat.”
He said he believes that the heritage of the local culture is based in cast iron and that the cook-off gave an opportunity to broaden the array of possible dishes from the somewhat restrictive possibility of bar-b-que only, or whatsoever other obligatory suspects for culinary focus tend to appear at such opportunities. This way, the participants get to make whatever they want, which provides comfortability for the competitors, and a chance for attendees to taste a wider range of fare.
Entry fee is $25 and can be sent to CHS. Proceeds from the event will go toward enrichment activities for the students of Centerville’s PreK-12 school.
Winners of the cook-off will receive $100 for first place, and $50 for second place, along with trophies. There will be an award for People’s Choice as well, with a trophy and $25 prize awarded.
Complete contest rules are available for download at:
www.chscastironcookoff.com.
Competitors must cook on-site and in cast iron vessels only. Any main dish is acceptable, as long as it is prepared in cast iron or enameled cast iron.
Judges will be considering appearance, texture, taste, appeal and booth score (cleanliness and organization, etc.).
The morning of the event, entries must be ready for delivery to the judging stand by 12 p.m.
The maximum number of entries per team is three. However, the $25 entry fee for each booth, will apply individually.
Dishes should include the name of the dish, written on the inside cover of the Styrofoam plate lid.
Winners will be announced at 1 p.m. Clean-up will begin at 1:20 p.m., and all booths must be taken down and areas free of trash by 2 p.m.
In addition to the cook-off, senior girls at CHS are invited to participate in the Cast Iron Queen Competition, the winner of which will assist the food judges and award the prizes at the event.
Competition entry forms can be found at:
www.chscastironcookoff.com
Entries must be turned in to the CHS office no later than 3 p.m., Monday, April 9. The winner will be announced Tuesday.
Event day will also host a 5K fun run. The entry fee is $25, which purchases, aside from mere entry, a participant t-shirt.
Fees and shirt sizes are to be sent to CHS. Any questions concerning the fun run should be directed to Angela at anlouere@stmaryk12.net.
Aside from co-events, the cook-off will also host games, food booths, a fun bounce, t-shirts and concessions.