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World famous competitive eater Joey Chestnut said on Saturday morning that he wasn’t a huge gumbo fan.
“I’m from California,” Chestnut said. “I’ve not been exposed to Cajun food too much.”
You’d have never been able to tell once the horn sounded and the day’s eating competition was on.
Chestnut, an eight-time hot dog eating champion and the owner of countless eating titles around the world, ate 15 large bowls of seafood gumbo in eight minutes at the World Record Gumbo Eating Championship this weekend at the Larose Civic Center. His total was one bowl better than the competition’s runner-up Miki Sudo – the best female eater in the world.
Chestnut said the competition was grueling and difficult – one of the most difficult titles he’s earned in his decade-long career as a competitive eater.
For his efforts, Chestnut scored a $2,000 prize – 40 percent of the event’s $5,000 purse.
“It wasn’t easy,” Chestnut said. “It felt like those bowls never got empty. But it was fun, and it was a great time and a great event. It certainly seemed like the people enjoyed it and that’s what it’s all about.”
The eating competition was the co-main event of Saturday’s gumbo-filled day at the Larose Civic Center.
Chestnut was one of several top-tier eaters who competed in a grueling competition that tested the stomach capacity and appetite of the eaters for the eight-minute contest.
The event was sanctioned by Major League Eating (MLE) – an organization that is growing in popularity and that holds several eating events over multiple food categories throughout the year. MLE is most famous for its hot dog eating contest that takes place every Independence Day on national TV – an event that is also Chestnut’s claim to fame.
MLE President Richard Shea was the emcee for the event and got the crowd fired up throughout the event with his energy and propensity to break into freestyle rhymes on the spot.
He said competitive eating is no joke and that the competitors on the stage train heavily to perfect their craft.
Emergency personnel were on hand to supervise the event.
“These men and women put a lot of time and a lot of effort into training for this,” Shea said. “The average person can’t do this. That’s why we tell people not to try this kind of thing at home. It takes training and it takes a special kind of person. The best are incredible. Joey Chestnut is incredible. Miki Sudo is incredible. We have some of the best of the best who competed today.”
Believe it or not – there were rules and the eaters had to follow guidelines during the competition or risk deductions.
“There’s a reason why tennis has a net, right?” Shea said with a laugh. “Of course, we have rules.”
Competitors were not allowed to drink the gumbo at all – all eaters had to spoon the dish into their mouths.
The bowls had to remain relatively flat. They were never to be tilted greater than a 45 degree angle. To complete a bowl, a competitor must have eaten everything inside of it.
Chestnut started quick, but admittedly tailed off toward the middle of the competition.
“I hit a wall,” Chestnut said. “The gumbo is great, but when you eat too much of anything, it starts to not taste so good anymore.”
He sealed the victory with a final push.
Chestnut said the competition was challenging because the gumbo was a variety of textures, which made for more cautious eating. He said the combination of liquid roux with grainy rice and hearty seafood made for a slower-paced competition than he’s used to competing in during his career as an eater.
It was the first-ever gumbo sanctioned gumbo eating contest on record.
“It wasn’t like anything we’re used to eating on the circuit,” Chestnut said. “It was unique, but I’m proud to have won and to be the gumbo champion. That’s a title that I’m very happy to have added to my resume. It’s a big honor.”
WORLD RECORD SET
Chestnut’s title wasn’t the only record-setting gumbo accomplishment that took place in Larose on Saturday.
The gumbo he and the other competitors were eating came from a pot that was the largest in the long, storied history of Cajun cuisine.
The main event of Saturday’s event took place on a scale as a representative from the Guinness Book of World Records was on hand to confirm that the gumbo cooked at the civic center was the largest of all-time.
Guinness representative Michael Empric monitored the preparation of the dish, before weighing it. To be in consideration for the world record, the dish had to weigh at least 2,500 pounds when done.
The dish prepared in Larose doubled that and was 5,800-pounds of roux, rice and assorted seafood meats – plenty enough to be the new world record.
The motivation for the dish’s creation was a legend that a 3,000-pound gumbo was made in Alabama – a dish that event organizers and chefs thought was the largest-ever gumbo on record.
But Empric said that the Alabama record was unofficial and never confirmed.
“That is a myth – nothing more than a legend,” Empric said. “We can’t confirm that that record exists. Right now, in our eyes, this is the first time that someone tries to set a world record for this.”
At night, a large TV screen was placed on the civic center’s pavilion stage and the LSU and Alabama game was shown in HD to the audience, which was treated to free gumbo and fun.
Alabama won the football game on the TV, but Louisiana won the title for gumbo.
There’s some justice in that. •
World-famous competitive eater Joey Chestnut (center) has another title he can add to his resume. He is now the best gumbo eater in the world. The famous competitor devoured 15 bowls of gumbo in eight minutes on Saturday afternoon at the Larose Civic Center to take home both the title and the event’s $2,000 first-place prize. Also on the afternoon, Louisiana reclaimed the record for the largest-ever gumbo with a 5,800-pound dish of seafood deliciousness.
