Distinguished Meat Smoker nominees

The Gazette and the 2015 Louisiana Smoked Meat Festival are proud to present the nominees for the “2015 Louisiana Smoked Meat Festival’s Distinguished Smoked Meat Smoker” contest!
The individuals featured below have been nominated for mastering the time-honored Cajun tradition. The winner will be announced at the 2015 Smoked Meat Festival on Saturday, June 27, at 12 noon during the opening ceremonies. At the end of the contest, all the nominees will be in the final paper preceding the festival.
Then the public will decide by placing their votes for the “Best of the Best ­- Distinguished Smoked Meat Smoker” online at www.evangelinetoday.com or by dropping off their ballots at The Gazette office or they can go to the Louisiana Smoked Meat Facebook page and cast vote there. Deadline for voting is Wednesday, June 24.

NOMINEES

Paul & Tammy Fontenot
I would like to nominate Paul and Tammy Fontenot, of Paul’s Meat Market, as the Distinguished Smoked Meat Smoker of 2015. Since November, 1994, they have been “smoking it up” at their store location on Chataignier Road, in Ville Platte. It all started when they bought the business from Floyd Dupre, which was called Floyd’s Super Check. Since then, they went from an out-of-town convenience store of sorts, to the fabulous meat market it is today. It almost seemed inevitable that they would choose this line of business, since both sets of parents were also in the food business. Tammy’s parents, Robert and Carrie Fontenot, owned and operated Snack Shack #1 and #2. Paul’s parents, Clyde and Janel Fontenot, owned and operated Cajun Fried Chicken.
Just recently their “super” store was featured in the September/October, 2014 issue of Louisiana Kitchen & Culture Magazine, referring to it as a “Smoked Meat Mecca”. In 2013 they were awarded the Ville Platte Chamber of Commerce “Business of the Year” recognition. They were even featured in a documentary about Louisiana, on LPB-TV, demonstrating how to smoke meat. They, along with a group of other locals, had the honor of cooking for the New Orleans Saints at their training camp in 2012.
Their son, Silas, was born in 1993, is no stranger to the business either. He became a natural in the store, working stock at the ripe age of five. At the age of 8, he was working the register, giving change, using food stamps and the credit card machine by himself. As he grew older, besides excelling in school, he played Dixie Youth baseball, then coached with his dad, and became an all-star umpire, providing services for sub-district to state tournaments. He is currently majoring in Psychology and will graduate in December, 2015, then plans to go to graduate school. He is a member of Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges, a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Phi Sigma Theta National Honor Society.
While carrying out the daily demands of running a successful business and raising their son, they found the time to support their community by participating in various functions and fund-raisers, such as the Smoked Meats Festival and others.
Here is a recap of their accomplishments:
Smoked Meat Festival awards include: 12 first-place medals, 15 second-place medals, 7 third-place medals, and one Grand Champion Smoke House. They were named the 2012 Tee Cotton Bowl Grand Champion. For the Mardi Gras Gumbo Festival, they received on first-place medal, two second-place medals, and three third place medals. In 2012 they received 2nd place in Specialty Boudin at the Boudin Festival.
It would be a well-deserved honor to name Paul and Tammy Fontenot the Distinguished Smoked Meat Smoker.

Bob Reed
Bob had always loved to cook which lead him to the art of smoking meat. A few years ago, Bob started experimenting with smoked meats by using recipes for sausage and boudin that he got from other smokers and his own experimentations. In the beginning, he used his family and friends as tasters (AKA guinea pigs) for his creations until he was satisfied that his recipes and techniques were good enough. The process from deboning the meat to putting it in the smoke house was also used as a bonding time between him, his father, and his late father in law.
Bob makes all types of sausage such as jalapeno and cheese, garlic, deer, turkey, etc. He has been asked to make goose sausage, which was a first, but he was willing to try. He also makes all types of jerky like beef, chicken, turkey, etc. Tasso and pounce are also on his menu. Bob’s menu of smoked meats is only limited by the request of family and friends.
He competes every year in the Smoked Meat Festival cooking contest which has become a big event for him. For all these reasons, we believe he should be named the Distinguished Smoked Meat Smoker for 2015.

Lawrence "Teet" Deville
I would like to nominate the late Lawrence "Teet" Deville for the Distinguished Meat Smoker Award. My grandfather Teet Deville started Teet's Food Store on August 11, 1955. He worked night and day with my grandmother, Ruby Deville, to get the perfect smoked sausage recipe. He was very proud of his smoked meats and very appreciative of his customers. Today, people drive in from all over the state and country to get some of Teet's Smoked Pork Sausage, Ponce, and Tasso. Teet never thought that his business would be as strong as it is today, and definitely never thought his smoked meat products would be bought online and shipped all over the country. Whenever I started the online business, he started asking me questions like, where is this package going, and are they from Ville Platte? The day I told him we were shipping to Alaska, he almost fell out of his chair. (He served in Alaska in WWII) This year will be our 60th Anniversary and nothing would make us prouder than having this award in his honor. He loved his store and his family very much. Please accept his nomination for the Distinguished Meat Smoker.