Ranch to Market Road 32 dips out of the Blanco River Valley and climbs the peak of Texas Hill Country. Its serpentine crawl across the top of the hills gives it the appearance that the crooked backbone of the Devil is pushing up from beneath. It is normally a calm drive to stop and look over the edge of the hills and admire the valley below.
But on Sunday, cars draped the edges of the roadway as overflow parking burst at the seams with hundreds of wanna-be Cajuns — and perhaps a few authentic ones — looking to join the stampede to Devil’s Backbone Tavern for the Boudin and Gumbo cookoff.
The brainchild of local sausage cooking king Bill Dumas, some the best cajun cooks from across Texas — and even portions of Louisiana — competed with some of the most eccentric styles of boudin known to man. There were crawfish- boudin-stuffed empanadas covered in gumbo gravy or duck, duck gumbo and barbacoa boudin tamales wrapped in a smoked banana leaf … and those were just a few of the incredible tastes that didn’t walk away with a trophy.
Smoak Town BBQ from Fate, Texas was the Grand Prize Boudin winner with an incredible Chicken Fried Boudin Ball. Smiley’s BBQ was the People’s Choice Boudin winner with Pork Belly Burnt End Boudin Balls. Tate Farms from Rockwall was the Freak of Nature Boudin winner with a Boudin Corn Dog.
The party was so popular, Devil’s Backbone Tavern responded in the only way anyone can after a day of a little too much fun by posting on Facebook: “CLOSED MONDAY. Sorry folks, y’all drank every beer we had.”
