Nothing could be better than a beautiful May evening in the Pacific Northwest enjoying a fantastic traditional Louisiana Crawfish Boil hosted by our friends and favorite Louisiana cooks, John Brennan and his wife Kris.

John had these live crawfish flown in from Louisiana.

Also check out John's fantastic Cajun Fried Turkey (recipe and photo tutorial)

Kiss the blue crawfish and spare his life, and you will be blessed with good luck. - Cajun saying

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Learn about the History of
Crawfish Boils, Jazz Brunches, and Reveillon Dinners
by Mark W. Huntsman
 

History of Crawfish in Louisiana

What looks, tastes, and smells like seafood, but doesn't come from the sea? It's crawfish, a freshwater shellfish that is considered a Louisiana delicacy.

Nothing else symbolizes the Cajun (A person of French Canadian descent born or living along the bayous, marshes, and prairies of southern Louisiana) culture of Louisiana like crawfish. Crawfish have become synonymous with the hardy French pioneers who settled in the area after being forced by British troops to leave their homes in Nova Scotia.

Crawfish (or crayfish) resemble tiny lobsters. They are also known in the south as mudbugs because they live in the mud of freshwater bayous. they are more tender than lobsters and have a unique flavor. Today crawfish are raised commercially and are an important Louisiana industry.

Most of the crawfish consumed in the United States are from Louisiana, although people from other states consider them a delicacy, too. Locals still hold the traditional crawfish boils, where friends and family gather to feast on pounds of crawfish. In the spring, families will go out fishing on the bayous or crawfish farms in an age-old tradition that thrives to this day.

The local Indians are credited with harvesting and consuming crawfish before the Cajuns arrived. They would bait reeds with venison, stick them in the water, then pick up the reeds with the crawfish attached to the bait. By using this method, the Indians would catch bushels of crawfish for their consumption. By the 1930s, nets were substituted, and by the 1950s, the crawfish trap was used.

On July 14, 1983, Louisiana’s governor approved a law designating the crawfish as the state crustacean. Louisiana thus became the first state to adopt an official crustacean. That's how serious Louisiana is about their crawfish!

According to Cajun legend: Crawfish are descendants of the Maine lobster. After the Acadians (now called Cajuns) were exiled in the 1700s from Nova Scotia, the lobsters yearned for the Cajuns so much that they set off cross the country to find them. This journey, over land and sea, was so long and treacherous that the lobsters began to shrink in size. By the time they found the Cajuns in Louisiana, they had shrunk so much that they hardly looked like lobsters anymore. A great festival was held up their arrival, and this smaller lobster was renamed crawfish.

 

Crawfish Boil Recipe

Ingredients:

30 pounds live crawfish (one sack)*
2 cups salt for purging
2 (3 ounce) boxes crawfish or crab or shrimp boil seasoning or 2 cups liquid crab boil
20 small onions, peeled
Smoked sausage, cut up into large pieces
Whole mushrooms
5 pounds small red or new potatoes, unpeeled
10 to 15 ears of fresh corn on the cob, shucked and broken in halves
Whole mushrooms

* Crawfish season is from late February to mid-May. If buying crawfish in advance, keep live crawfish at 36-46 degrees for approximately 3 days with wet burlap sacks, towels, etc. on top. Let crawfish return to room temperature before using.

If you have not already done so, drink a cold beer.

Purging the Crawfish:  The cardinal rule is to purge and thoroughly wash the crawfish before boiling them. Placing them in a plastic children's pool, large tub, or a large ice chest - rinse them  in enough changes of water for the water to run reasonably clear. Then add more water to cover the crawfish and add 2 cups of salt. This forces them to purge themselves of impurities. Stir for 3 minutes, then rinse crawfish. After purging and cleaning, don’t leave the crawfish covered with water, as they need air to stay alive. Keep the crawfish in a cool or shaded area until you’re ready to start cooking. NOTE: Be careful not to let them purge too long. You do not want them to be dead when you add them to the boil.

In a large (18- to 20-gallon) pot over high heat, add enough water to fill a little more than halfway.  Add crawfish or crab boil seasoning. Cover pot and bring water to a boil; boil 2 to 3 minutes to allow the spices to mix well.

Using a large wire basket that fits into the pot, add onions, sausage, mushrooms, and potatoes. Maintain a boil and cook 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add crawfish to the wire basket, stirring them a bit; cook an additional 4 to 5 minutes (being careful not to overcook the crawfish). Remove wire basket from pot.

To serve the traditional way, cover a table (preferably outdoors) with thick layers of newspaper. Spill the contents of the basket (onions, potatoes, sausage, mushrooms, and crawfish) along the length of the newspaper-covered table. They are best served hot.

Makes 10 servings.

How To Eat Crawfish:

Crawfish are eaten with your hands (don't ask for utensils; you will only be laughed at).  Don't be intimidated by that big pile of cooked crawfish.

With one hand, grasp the crawfish head. Grasp the tail with your other hand. Gently squeeze the tail end of the body close to where it joins the head. Hold the head steady and gently twist the tail end, still applying pressure. The meaty end will twist out of the head.

Put the head aside for the moment. Slide a finger or thumb under the first few segments at the top of the tail and peel away the top partially expose part of the tail. With the shell still partially intact, bring the tail meat to your mouth and sink your teeth into the exposed meat. Chomp down on it, and it will pop into your mouth as you leave the tail behind.

The part that shows if you are a true Cajun or not is if you eat the head. Take the head and suck the hot, spicy juices out of it.
 

The following fellow crawfish eaters graciously allowed me to take their photos while "sucking crawfish." Thank you for being such good sports!