Business people 'Meet the Cooks' on eve of BBQ Bash

\Local cooks and cooks from out of town gave attendees to Thursday evening’s Bayou BBQ Bash kickoff party the chance to sample some of the barbecue they’ll cook during Saturday’s competition.
The St. Mary Chamber of Commerce hosted a Business After Hours “Meet the Cooks” event Thursday at Hampton Inn & Suites in Morgan City.
The Bayou BBQ Bash officially begins today with live music, food booths and arts and crafts booths under the U.S. 90 bridge in Morgan City.
On Saturday, cooks will compete in the fourth annual Bayou BBQ Bash to see who has the best pork spare ribs, brisket and chicken under the U.S. 90 bridge in Morgan City at the corner of Second and Greenwood streets.
BBQ Bash Co-founder Don Tellman said Thursday that about 45 cooks had entered into Saturday’s competition.
The event is a Barbecue Competitors Alliance Sanctioned State Championship competition.
Bill Goessl, who owns The Smokehouse in Morgan City, is among the locals who will go against the out-of-town competition Saturday. He’s competed each year in the past, but is adding something new this year.
“I’ve got a secret sauce for the chicken,” Goessl said.
Craig Smith of St. Amant was serving hot wings at Thursday’s kickoff party. Smith has competed in the Bayou BBQ Bash since its inception and has entered all three meat categories again this year, he said.
Edwin Manotas of St. Amant said Saturday’s competition will be a family outing as his two daughters are going to compete as well.
“This is vacation for us,” Manotas said of the weekend. Manotas also travels to a few other competitions including the Jambalaya Festival and does some catering, too, he said. He placed fourth in the pork spare ribs category last year, he said.
When I asked what meat he feels most confident in cooking, Manotas said, “I feel confident about all of them, but you just never know what’s going to happen.”
Danny Titus and his wife Rhonda Titus of Youngsville gave visitors to Thursday’s Business After Hours a taste of the St. Louis style barbecue pork spare ribs they’ll be cooking Saturday.
Rhonda Titus is looking forward to good competition between the local cooks and those who’ve traveled from further away, she said. Danny Titus and Rhonda Titus competed on separate teams last year but decided to enter together as a team this year.
Rhonda Titus finished third in the overall competition last year, she said. The couple travels to roughly 15 cooking competitions each year including ones in Marksville and Port Allen, she said.
The couple competes in cooking events as a hobby, and they “can’t make a living out of it,” Rhonda Titus said.
“And I don’t do catering,” Danny Titus said.
Brian Lipps of St. Amant, who will also compete Saturday, as he has done the past three years as well, helped the Titus’ serve their ribs Thursday.
Other area teams getting ready for Saturday include a team of Morgan City firefighters who will compete in the Corporate Cooking Team Throw-Down Challenge after winning it in 2014. The team is sponsored by AJ Second Street Pub in Morgan City. Before Thursday’s Meet the Cooks event, Morgan City Assistant Fire Chief Mark Stephens, who’s on the team, said, “I enjoy competing and meeting all the cookers, and it’s just a great group of people that do this.”
This evening there will be a live musical performance by Déjà Vu and Old Soul from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Live music continues Saturday when Hal Bruni and the Branded will perform from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Cliff Hillebran & the Anytime Band will close out the event, performing from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Also today, arts and crafts booths will be open from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Food booths selling plate lunches and beer, wine, margarita and soda booths will be open from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Food vendors include East Gate BBQ, The Smokehouse, Latin Corner and Extreme Sports (Central Catholic High School hamburgers), according to a news release.
On Saturday, open, corporate and barbecue competitions for children will be held. Known as the Kids Qs, children compete in two divisions. Kids 13 to 17 years old will cook chicken legs and 12 years and under will cook pork chops, the release said.
An awards ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
There will also be food, soft drinks, wine, margaritas and beer booths including three booths serving barbecue plate lunches, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, according to the news release.
On Saturday, over 80 arts and crafts booths will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the Kids’ Activity Zone will operate from noon to 5 p.m.
For more information, contact 985-384-3830 and visit www.stmarychamber.com, or www.cajuncoast.com/bbqbash.

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com.