NATCHEZ — Tender loving care was the only ingredient Scott Adams and his Silas and Simmons coworkers needed Thursday to win the ninth annual United Way jambalaya cook-off fundraiser.

“We took care of our meats and our vegetables,” Adams said standing next to the team’s first-place trophy. “I still can’t believe we won.”

The jambalaya cook-off is a kickoff to the 2013 United Way Community Investment Pledge Drive, a three-month fundraising campaign.

Eighteen teams signed up to compete in the cook-off this year, which is the most in the event’s history, United Way business director Tammy Prince said.

“We had an amazing turnout this year,” Prince said. “We had some people sell out of their jambalaya in an hour, and we stayed open an hour later than usually do, so I think we got some more people through here because of that.”

One of the teams that sold out of jambalaya quickly was the Enersteel team — one of three new teams that competed this year.

The team came in third place in the jambalaya competition.

Enersteel employee and head chef Johnny Havard said Thursday’s jambalaya was the first he or any of his coworkers had cooked for competition.

“For this to be our first year and have placed in the competition is just awesome,” Havard said. “We had a blast.”

Havard said his team reported for duty bright and early at 5:30 a.m. Thursday to begin grilling chicken, pork loins, sausage and boiling shrimp.

“We all sat out there and peeled 10 pounds of shrimp this morning, but it was worth it,” Havard said. “We were completely out of jambalaya within an hour of them opening.”

Silas and Simmons was another one of the new teams this year, and Adams said he hadn’t even made a batch of jambalaya until last weekend.

“I did my first test batch last weekend, and it turned out pretty good,” Adams said. “We made a whole pot of it just to get a feel for what it would be like in the competition, and we donated it all to the fire department.”

The cook-off offers awards for first, second and third places for the jambalaya competition and a spirit award for the best decorated team booth.

Groups of guest judges judged the jambalaya platters on overall appearance, texture of rice and overall taste.

“This was the first year I had my judges hidden from everybody,” Prince said. “Usually they have nametags and everyone knows who the judges are, but this year they were mixed in with everyone else.”

In the jambalaya competition, Silas Simmons placed first, the Adams County Master Gardeners placed second and Enersteel placed third.

This year’s theme was “college football style” and teams decorated their booths with a favorite college football team.

Isle of Capri Casino won the award for best decorated team booth. The team’s booth was decorated in LSU colors and was complete with a large, plush tiger in a cage — resembling the university’s famed mascot, Mike the Tiger.

The United Way of the Greater Miss-Lou supports 11 local agencies. The goal of the United Way is to provide a central agency that individuals and businesses can support which then provides funding for a variety of non-profits.

For more information on the United Way, call 601-442-1081.