Last night I attended the Eat Lafayette, Louisiana Seafood Cook-off held in the CajunDome Convention Center. Cost was $29 and there were approximately 35 +/- vendors with food sampling. Prior 2 years were cancelled due to covid, as the turn-out was pretty good with people from around the State, many supporting the 12 chefs competing for the King/Queen of LA Seafood. This was the 15th year as it's put on by the Louisiana Tourism to promote Louisiana Seafood. Pretty sure it was filmed by PBS ?? and will be aired at a later date. I'll do the vendor food pics first, followed by the cook-off results. I ate food samples from 10-12 vendors, primarily the foods that I was hungry for or hadn't eaten before.

pork belly bacon and pepper jelly from Tchoups Smokehouse; bite size crabcake ball with honey mustard from Poorboys Riverside

Cheese sampler with gouda, smoked cheddar, jalapeno, pepper jelly, and meat ..... another pic of the crabcake ball (that shite was very good)

Charlie G's smoked duck and andouille gumbo

Pulled pork empanada roll with sauces from Agave

Chicken roll with hummus and fried crispy naan ? from Zues

Thinly sliced brussel sprouts that were fire roasted in a sweet sauce topping - forgot the vendor. The BS were perfectly cooked

mini smoked boudin ball and jalapeno cheese sausage from Best Stop. Muffuletta - forgot the vendor

Hush puppy with shrimp , lemon squares and brownie with gold glitter

Various poboys from Olde Tyme Grocery, roast beef pictured. They also had fried shrimp, pulled pork, turkey..

Duck and andouille gumbo from Prejeans

crawfish fettuccini

sweet potato beinet bites with rum bread pudding sauce from Poorboys Riverside... I ate 3 of these

amazing flavor and texture

there were probably another 20 vendors with various foods such as jambalaya, desserts, corn and crab bisque (forgot to take a pic), etc... Of the food I ate, Charlie G's smoked duck and andouille gumbo was the best, followed by the bite size crab cakes from Poorboys.

The Louisiana Seafood Cook-Off was won by Chef Amanda Cusey from Lake Chuck. First time participant and the 2nd "Queen" to with the event. Amanda grew up in Arizona and chased her dream of being an executive chef while working in Surrey, England and Dublin, Ireland before moving to LC. She fixed a pan seared red drum, tomato polenta, seared green beans, topped with crawfish cream sauce. Very simple preparation as some food entries were to complex.

other entries
soft-shell crab served over a mashed potato creation then topped with lump crab meat cream sauce. Chef Ryan Cashio of Cajun House & Catering in LaPlace.

Speckled Trout bouillabaisse with a fried soft shell crawfish. Chef Brett Monteleone of Junior's of Harrison

Cobia with a lemon butter sauce and lumb crabmeat. Chef Ben Fidelak of Mariner's Restaurant in Natchitoches.

Forgot the name of this dish, pretty sure it was a pan seared fish fillet with fire-roasted sweet corn salad and topped with fried crawfish

Fried fish with a etouffee topping

All kinds of meals with a Japanese influence. Chef David Dickensauge - Tsunami B.R. - 3rd Place

I believe this was a hashbrown like fried fritter, various sides and choupique caviar

Chef Amy Sins of Langlois in NO won 2nd place.