fo o d+dr i nk / su r l a m e nu
Cook and Camp Blackpot Festival kicks off with food, music, learning and the great outdoors by J y l B e n s o n s el e c t p h oto s by j o s e p h v i d r i n e
We c a n a ssume the Ac adians took their
durable cast iron cookware with them (most families would have only had one cooking vessel that they used for all meals) when they were driven by the British from Nova Scotia to resettle in southwestern Louisiana and start again with nothing (Le Grand Dérangement). Thus ensconced, they would have set their cauldrons over live coals and commenced cooking, a practice that remains central to the lively culture. For the 14th consecutive year the Blackpot Festival will celebrate the indestructible cooking vessel through food, music and competition against the verdant scenery of Vermilionville, a historic museum village. The festival runs October 25-26. The festival will be preceded by Blackpot Camp, a week (October 20-25) of cooking, music and dancing workshops held at Lakeview Park & Beach in Eunice. Both tents and RVs are welcome and a rollicking barn dance erupts every night. A note on Blackpot Camp: Due to Lakeview’s liability insurance, guests not paying tuition to attend camp must vacate the campground from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. each day but all are invited to join for a la carte dinner and dances each night. When camp culminates with a breakfast on Friday morning the action will move one hour south to Vermilionville, where tent camping will be allowed on the baseball fields starting at 3 p.m. Live music will start invading from three stages beginning at 6 p.m. The Blackpot Cook-off will happen on Saturday. Both individuals and groups, amateurs and professionals can register in advance of the festival to compete or you can just show up and wander around to the various makeshift “kitchens” to sample the competitors’ creations in the categories of Gravy, Gumbo, Jambalaya, Cracklin’ and Dessert, all of which must be cooked exclusively in cast iron on site. n
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ac adiana profile october/november 2019
Bonus Bite If you are rolling through Krotz Springs on Highway 190 make a stop at Billy’s Diner (24467 Highway 190, Krotz Springs, 337-5662318) and check out the new grab-and-go offerings from the hot case for the best road food ever: Billy’s Roll Ups. The original is a boudin egg roll. There is also a crawfish version and, my personal favorite, a mash up of the aforementioned with the addition of melt-y pepper jack cheese. Yum.
Blackpot Camp blackpotc amp.com Blackpot Festival blackpotfestival.com Lakeview Park, Beach & Campground 1717 Veterans Memorial Highway, Eunice 337.457.2881 lvpark .com Vermilionville Historic Village 300 Fisher ROAD Lafayette 337.233.4077 vermilionville.org