KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Louie’s Trophy House hosted their 15th annual Charity Gumbo Cook-Off on Sunday, February 23rd.
Each year, all proceeds generated from ticket sales go to a selected beneficiary. This year, the chosen recipients were the Cheff Therapeutic Riding Center and gLOVEmeplease.org.
18 local businesses participated in the event this year, each competing for the title of Gumbo Champion. Competitors included the People’s Food Co-op (PFC) of Kalamazoo, who had provided two different types of gumbo for the occasion.
“One gumbo was for people who have a lot of allergies or dietary restriction,” Katrina Ezbenko of PFC said in an interview. “We made a smoked mushroom, okra, jalapeno, saffron gumbo. I used ground rice flour and coconut oil, so we were wheat-free, dairy-free, nut-free and meat-free.”
The second choice was a more traditional gumbo dish using organic farmer-supplied ingredients including andouille sausage, short ribs, shrimp and otto’s chicken.
The gumbo was also a representation of the goals for PFC.
“The People’s Food Co-Op is a community-owned grocery store, and we have been in Kalamazoo since the 1970’s,” Ezbenko said. “We are striving to create access to healthy food that helps the environment, and create access for all people within our community.”
Some of the returning competitors this year included local food truck business Weller Barbecue, who were returning to the cook-off for the fourth year in a row.
“This year, we took about five days to make our gumbo,” Owner and Operator Alex Weller said in an interview. “At first, we started off making our house-made andouille sausage, then we smoked it with our local cherry woods. We made a duck fat roux, and then we also smoked about 12 pounds of shrimp with the cherry wood as well.”
The business made their official Kalamazoo debut at the gumbo cook-off in 2017.
“We’ve gone leaps and bounds since then,” Weller said. “Then, we were just out here trying to get our name out, people didn’t even know who we were, had never heard of us. This year, we have a large following, the weather is beautiful, and it’s a great year. Best gumbo competition yet.”
The gumbo from Weller was also a big hit with the crowd.
“We’re getting a lot of good reviews, a lot of people say it’s the best gumbo they’ve ever tried,” Weller said. “The week-long process, it really comes out in the finished product. People can really tell all the energy and the love that you put into this stuff.”
According to a report from WWMT shared by Louie’s, Weller Barbecue ended up taking home the People’s Choice award, while Green Top Tavern won the Judge’s Choice. A Facebook post from Weller Barbecue confirmed the win.
“We can proudly say that we raised between 8k-10k for each charity,” Louie’s staff stated in an announcement. “We couldn’t have done it without all of you! We are already looking forward to making next years event even better!”
More information about the charity beneficiaries can be found online at https://www.cheffcenter.org/ and https://glovemeplease.org/.
