Cooking Team Rules and Regulations    (March 11, 2023)

Teams: Teams may be individuals, businesses or groups/organizations. No professional chefs allowed. 

Spaces:      All cooking areas will be marked off and all spots will be assigned to the teams by the Rajun Cajun committee. Cooking sites can be reserved in advance by the teams and will be assigned based on first come, first paid basis.

• The maximum site size will be 15’ x 30’
• Trailers and RV’s will be allowed in the main cooking areas but will not be allowed to exceed the boundaries of the individually assigned areas. *Only limited RV spaces available, otherwise RV’s are to be located in the 300 block of Davis
• You may begin preparing your area on Friday, March 10 after 5pm and teams are encouraged to decorate their area.
• While the bands are playing, we ask that you be considerate and not play any loud music.
• This new process will help assure that electricity and water is conveniently available to all teams. 

Cooking & Ingredients: Teams must furnish ALL their cooking equipment including tables, chairs, butane cookers, water etc.

RC Committee will provide all containers and utensils for $1 tastings to the public. >>>   Foodwise please estimate 100+ people

• ALL food and drinks, in ALL judged categories MUST BE CAJUN INSPIRED!!!
• On Saturday, ALL COOKING MUST BE DONE ON SITE AND FROM SCRATCH (including Roux), or entry will be disqualified.
• You may pre cook your rice and stock ONLY, and vegetables may be pre-chopped
• All meat used must be commercial products.  Inspection by committee member is mandatory before cooking begins.
• No commercial mixes are allowed in ANY category.
• All food must be cooked in the open- no RVs or closed tents (with the exception of desserts which can be made indoors, or off site and brought to designated turn-in area by the appropriate time). You must be willing to taste your own gumbo and cooking conditions are subject to inspection.
• Be prepared to furnish 1 quart of gumbo for judging (no rice or other fillers) and a minimum of 1 gallon of gumbo for People’s Choice sampling
• Bloody Marys MUST BE TOMATO BASED, but do not have to be vodka based
• Be prepared to furnish a minimum of 16oz. of your Bloody Mary 

Check-In/Head Cooks Meeting:

Early check in will be held Friday March 10 from 6:00pm – 8:00pm.

Otherwise, check in begins at 9:00am on Saturday March 11. Each head cook must sign in with a committee member upon arrival, and must attend the mandatory head cooks meeting at 9:30AM.    NO EXCEPTIONS.

Judging:  All containers for judging will be provided to you.

• A designated person from your team will be required to deliver the sample(s) to the judging area by the appropriate time (see timeline below).  Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony and auction at the Main Stage at 5:30 pm.
• Judging Criteria for Gumbo, Open, Jambalaya, Dessert & Bloody Mary Categories: Appearance, Aroma & Flavor
• Judging Criteria for Showmanship: All we can say is “Lagniappe!!!” Give a little “something extra!!!”
• Turn-ins only accepted for paid/registered categories only.  Any attempts to turn-in an entry for categories not paid/registered will be disqualified and team could be banned from future competitions.

Failure to follow these rules will be grounds for disqualification. The Rajun’ Cajun Throwdown Committee reserves the right to make additional regulations as situations warrant. Decisions of this committee and judges are final. 

Awards:

There will be thirteen awards given: 1st, 2nd 3rd in each of the the Gumbo, Open, Bloody Mary, Jambalaya, Dessert and Showmanship categories, and one People’s Choice Award.

•  Pe opl e ’s Choi c e Awar d : Spectators will purchase a ticket from the ticket booth or a designated Rajun’ Cajun Throwdown Committee Member and, after sampling gumbo and other entry samples, give it to the team of their choice. Each team will be responsible for turning in these tickets no later than 5 pm.  **Pooling of tickets/cash between teams is prohibited and if caught, colluding teams will forfeit all People Choice winnings and may face permanent ban from future competitions.

Timeline:

For more places to visit: www.lulingcc.org

Requirements and Safety:

1. You may give away trinkets. NOTHING may be sold by participants!!!!
2. The head cook is responsible for ensuring your area is clean and all trash has been disposed of before leaving by 9:00 am Sunday morning.
3. The Rajun’ Cajun Throwdown Committee has the right to refuse or accept any entry.
4. The Rajun’ Cajun Throwdown Committee, Luling Main Street, its officers, agents, employees and other representatives shall not be held liable for, and they are hereby released from liability for any damages, loss, harm or injury to the person or property of the cook-off, any of its officers, agents, employees or other representatives, resulting from theft, fire, water, weather, accident or other cause.  Cook-off participants hold the Rajun’ Cajun Throwdown Committee and Luling Main Street harmless from any claims, demands, suits, liability, damages, loss costs, attorney fees and expenses of whatever kind  or nature, which might result from or arise from any action or failure to act on the part of the cook-off participant or any of  it’s officers, agents, employees or other representatives.