The taste and beat of the Gulf Coast arrived at the Christiansted boardwalk Saturday night with zydeco music and gumbo as Krewe De Croix hosted its Kallaloo and Gumbo Cookoff.
The restaurants, bars, and booths seemed to be all doing a brisk business as a couple of hundred residents milled along the boardwalk getting tastes of gumbo and kallaloo for $3.
All the entrants in the competition were enthusiastic about their entries.
Jason Baker, from Castaways, was serving chicken and sausage gumbo made from the recipe of his mother, Sissy Guidry, from Opelousas, La. He said he has been cooking gumbo since he was 15.
Frank Thibodeaux, at the Hillbilly Gumbo booth, had speckled trout, white shrimp, blue crabs and oysters shipped in from Louisiana for the perfect mix.
Maggie Quinton, from Frederiksted, heard on the radio about the cookoff and decided she wanted to introduce people to her kallaloo.
“I entered because I love to cook,” Quinton said. “I’ll keep filling my pot as long as people are here and sampling.”
Violet Anne Golden, first vice president of St. Croix Girl Scouts, said the group saw the cookoff as a good community activity and wanted to come out and help Christiansted.
“This was an opportunity to be with the community,” Golden said. “We are visible and can do recruiting for the Scouts. We talked to girls and parents. And we have the finest kallaloo. People love it and come back for more.”
Alley Galley Deli and Liquor was serving seafood kallaloo along with coconut water cocktails mixed with Cruzan or Captain Morgan Rum. John Eddies Lowlife Bar and Refuge, Rum Runners, Fort Christian Brew Pub and Sprat Net took part. Calvin Belle, from Sprat Net, said Krew de Croix supports the North Shore businesses so he wanted to come out and help support them.
The top three winners of the gumbo contest were the Hillbillies, Angry Nates, and Low Life. The kallaloo winners were H2O Restaurant, Comanche Sugar Mill and the Girl Scouts. The People’s Choice went to Low Life and Best Showmanship went to Angry Nates.
Menissa Joseph, 15-years-old, said she liked the Girls Scouts’ kallaloo the best.
“I really had fun and the music was good,” Joseph said. “I thought the dunking tank was funny.”
People got a kick out of seeing senators and senatorial candidates getting soaked in the dunk tank. Rick Coates said he dunked Sen. Nellie R. O’Reilly a couple of times. Judi Fricks, Sen. Sammuel Sanes, John Canegata, Pedro Cruz and Michael Springer all ended up in the tank.
This is the fourth time the cookoff has been held. The last time it was held was in 2009 at Sylvie’s Place in La Vallee.
Val Stiles, Krew de Croix publicity coordinator, said organizers wanted to bring people to Christiansted so they decided to do the cookoff on the boardwalk. She added they wanted to get people to town to help boost business.
“This was a very good function to help keep peoples’ spirits up,” Stiles said.
Krew de Croix will get $2 from each sample sold and the entrants get $1. The proceeds go towards the annual Mardi Croix parade, Krew de Barkus dog parade, Santa on the beach and more.
Trailer Trash With an Ocean View, Michael Justis and Prodigy Block entertained the crowd.