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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 has 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.
One pound of crawfish boil
seasoning will cook approximately 12 to 15 pounds of crawfish.
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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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John relaxing with his beer while
the crawfish boil.
These are good!
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Louisiana Crawfish Boil Recipe
Ingredients
Needed:
1 (35
to 40
pound) sack live crawfish*
1 (26-ounce) box salt
for purging
Water
2 (1 pound) boxes/sacks crawfish or crab or shrimp boil seasoning
(see column on left)
6 to
8 lemons, sliced in half
Small
onions, peeled
Smoked
sausage, cut up into large pieces
Whole mushrooms
Small red or new
potatoes, unpeeled
15 to 20 ears of fresh
corn
on the cob, shucked and broken in halves
6 heads of garlic, split in half exposing pods
Whole mushrooms
* Use over-night
delivery for live crawfish.
You should order the
crawfish to arrive the day before or the day of your crawfish
boil.
Equipment Needed:
 As
you can see from the photo of the boiling pots on the right,
John boiled up many sacks of live crawfish for this party.
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One large boiling pot (60 to
80 gallon) with basket insert, and lid (you can
use your deep-fat turkey fryer - will cook about 10-15
lbs of crawfish per batch)
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Outdoor high-pressure propane
cooker
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Large tub or two ice chests
(depending on the amount of live crawfish)
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A large paddle for stirring
the crawfish.
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A
large picnic table with plenty of newspapers to cover
it, several rolls of paper towels, and a large garbage
can.
 How
many pounds of live crawfish to order:
Plan on ordering about 2 to 3
pounds of crawfish per person or 4 to 5 pounds for a heavier
crawfish eater. Some people are extra-heavy eaters. For them you
will need 5 to 7 pounds.
Keeping
Live Crawfish Techniques: Crawfish season is
from late February to mid-May. You must keep the live Crawfish
fresh and healthy. Keep them
in a cool place and out of the heat. Your garage is the perfect
spot until you're ready to boil.
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When
you receive your
sacks of crawfish, simply take your sack of crawfish, hose them down, and place them back in a cooler
(or the box the sacks arrived in)
with a bag of ice. Do not take the crawfish out of
the sack, leave them in the sack and hose the entire sack
with fresh water.
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If you use ice, be sure to drain
them frequently. DO NOT let them sit in cold water for a
long time or they will die! Keep live
crawfish at 36 to 46 degrees F. for approximately 3 days with wet
burlap sacks, towels, etc. on top. Let crawfish return to room
temperature before using. Do not leave the crawfish outside if
the temperature is freezing level or below!
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When traveling with crawfish,
a few of them will die naturally due to stress of being
moved, etc.
Purging Crawfish:
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The cardinal rule is to purge
and thoroughly wash the crawfish before boiling them. Pour
the sack of live crawfish in a plastic children's pool,
large tub, or a large ice chest. Pour one (1) 26-ounce box salt
over the top of the crawfish. Add water to just cover the
crawfish. Gently stir with a large paddle to mix the salt
and the water. Stir for 3
minutes, then rinse crawfish. NOTE: some
people skip adding salt.
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Be careful
not to let them purge too long. You do not want them to be dead
when you add them to the boil. Throw away all crawfish that have
already died (the dead crawfish should float to the top).
You do not, I repeat, DO NOT want to add dead crawfish to
the pot.
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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.
Boiling
Crawfish: If you have not
already done so, drink a cold beer.
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In a large (60- to 80-gallon) pot over high heat, add enough
water to fill a little more than halfway.
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Squeeze out the juice out of
the lemon halves into the water and throw the lemon halves
into the water.
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Add
crawfish or crab boil seasoning (see left column).
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 Cover pot, turn
on the burner full blast, and
bring water to a boil; boil 2 to 3 minutes to allow the spices
to mix well. NOTE: It needs to be hot
enough to bring the pot to a rolling boil in about 15
minutes.
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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.
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Add crawfish to the wire basket, stirring them a bit.
Once
the water starts a rolling boil again, boil 5 minutes. Regulate the burner so the rolling boil is
maintained, but where the pot does not boil over.
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Turn the
burner off, keep the pot covered, and let the crawfish soak
for 20 to 30 minutes.
Remove wire basket from pot.
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Remove
the strainer from the water, and rest it on the top of the
pot using two boards laid on the top of the pot as a
rack. Let the crawfish drain.
Serving Boiled Crawfish:
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 steaming 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.
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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.
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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.
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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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