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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)
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Crawfish boils are wonderful messy
affairs, best suited for the outdoors. Boiling crawfish
is a festive event and eating it is thirsty work, so
we made sure to have lots of beer on hand.
Crawfish boil seasoning can be found the the seasoning
or seafood section of any grocery store.
There are many manufacturers to choose from. This is a
spice blend of salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder,
onion powder, lemon juice, and additional spices.
Equipment Needed:
One Large Boiling Pot, Basket Insert, and Lid (you can
use your deep-fat turkey fryer - will cook about 10-15
lbs of crawfish per batch)
Outdoor Propane Cooker
Large Tub or Two Ice Chests
A
large picnic table with plenty of newspapers to cover
it, several rolls of paper towels, and a large garbage
can.
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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!
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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.
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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!
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Comments from readers:
Had a delicious blast
this weekend using your Cajun Crawfish Boil recipe, but
with live California Crawfish (which are harvested from
Sacramento Delta).... just as good! The key thing I
would have missed without reading your web page was
"purging" the crawfish. We improvised with a 10-15
gallon clean plastic garbage bin and a garden hose.
We boiled it in salted water with red potatoes, corn-on
the-cob, Zatarain's Crab/Shrimp Boil, and cayenne
pepper. Then, when we emptied onto picnic table,
sprinkled with Old Bay seasoning, and more cayenne and
other pepper-based spices for a mouth-tingling
experience. Nice to follow with a few cold ones!
October is end of season for us, so had it just in time. See the photos I wanted to share with you.
Cheers - Collin (10/15/07)
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