AMY SZPARA

PHOTO 1: Glen Babin stirs his prize-winning jambalaya at a Treasure Chest Casino jambalaya cooking contest in June. Also shown is Lori Barne. LAPLACE – Not many people in the LaPlace area can refuse a big plate of spicy, home-cooked jambalaya with sausages, chicken, venison or shrimp, the meats combined with the soft rice to delight the taste buds. Most people in the River Parishes are ready to sit down to the Cajun dish at any family or community event, and many locals would consider themselves connoisseurs, secure in the knowledge they can pick out the best of the best of the Southeast Louisiana delicacy. One LaPlace native, Glen Babin, was named the best this summer at a jambalaya cookoff called the June Jam Jam at the Treasure Chest Casino in Kenner, and the title earned him $1,000 and bragging rights to take back to his hometown in the River Parishes. Babin beat out competitors who were in the categories of individual, restaurant and media. Babin, who said he learned to cook from his mother, Mary Babin, and began helping her in the kitchen when he was just 6 years old, walked away with the grand prize and was named “Best of Jam Jam.” PHOTO 2: Glen Babin, of LaPlace, accepts his $1,000 check for winning the Jam Jam cookoff at the Treasure Chest Casino in Kenner. The long-time cook said he remembers chopping fresh seasonings and herbs when he was a child, often assisting his mother in her cooking. “I would take a chair from the kitchen table and drag it to the kitchen counter so I could reach the top of the counter, and chop the seasonings with a hand chopper,” said Glen Babin. Babin also remembers stirring roux for his mother, having the job of keeping the thick sauce from burning in the pan. The fond early memories turned cooking into a hobby for Babin, and he now cooks jambalaya, beans, gumbo, stews, sauces and other dishes for his friends and family. “I sometimes cook for the guys at work (20-40 buddies), and they tell me that they love my cooking. When it comes to jambalaya, I cook for friends, parties, special occasions or events,” Babin said, adding that he has been cooking for bass fishing tournaments for the last four years. He usually cooks using an iron pot that feeds around 150 people. At the Treasure Chest Casino Third Annual Jam Jam, which was held June 24, Babin entered his jambalaya, which he was required to cook on site and make 200 servings. Babin went up against contestants from all the surrounding parishes in the New Orleans metropolitan. Contestants had to pay a $25 entry fee, and all proceeds went to Second Harvesters Food Bank. A total of $3,500 was raised for the cause. According to Babin, the public was invited to taste free samples of the jambalaya, and some of the food was donated to the needy. Babin said he was excited to win the money. “The $1,000 came in handy, because I was changing my roof,” he said.