All about the Throwdown!

The producer told me that they were looking for the “best of the best” for a given dish. We chatted for almost an hour and she asked me to Fed Ex a tape of me on local TV. I sent them a tape of me cooking Jamaican Jerk Chicken on our local CBS affiliate WWL (Thanks KEITH!!!! and Eric!).

They liked it and asked for a demo tape on how I would suggest cooking jambalaya. I sent them a 9 minute tape about a Cajun Jambalaya and the Second Battle of New Orleans, the battle to rebuild my city. (Thanks Keith!) From that they choose me to cook our best Jambalaya! They also asked me to submit a "do's and don'ts" or my Thoughts about Jambalaya.

We scheduled a couple of days that were good for both of us and we taped the show in late July, it was great fun!! To tell you the truth... when Bobby drove in, I was in shock!

Let me tell ya, Bobby is such a GREAT guy! He is fun, easy going, down to earth and just a joy to work with! In fact, the whole crew from producers (Fran, Kate, Lesley and Amy), cameramen (Bob, Peter and Bob), sound technicians (David, BJ and John), PA's (Elton, Bryan and Amy) were all fantastic and so very professional! Fran told me that they were all there to make me look good and that is just what they did!!

My thanks to Mr. Blaine Kern for letting us use his Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World to do the taping, what a fabulous setting! Also to Aurora Tennis and Swim Club and Becnel's Produce for the use of their remote sites. And Donna, whose party we couldn't make because of the rain delays. Thanks to Abita Beer, their beer always makes my jambalaya taste better! AND, of course, Thanks to the Jambalaya Judges (Chef Tory from Commander's Palace and Chef Tee Wayne!) for their excellent decision.

Thanks to the LA SPCA and Cox Communications for allowing several of their employees to attend the party. And thanks to the many friends that attended the party (Fred, Brenda, Anna, Barbara, Kim and all of the stinking Trauths!)

I could not have done the show without the great on air camera work of my son, Emile L. Stieffel IV (The Boy) and my Dad (ELS II)!