Cajun Crawfish

Gumbo is a dish that originated in Southern Louisiana during the 18th century. Cajun Gumbo typically begins with a roux of flour and some type of fat (butter, oil, lard). The color and underlying falvor of gumbo come from this roux, which is loving stired continuously until it turns a rich caramel color. Next comes the Cajun Holy Trinity (bell peppers, celery and onions) and often includes okra. A Meat or shellfish stock is added and some type of shellfish is often added (crawfish, shrimp, crab), and many Gumbo’s include Andouille sausage an chicken. Filé powder (ground sassafras ), is another key ingredient. The dish combines ingredients and culinary practices of several cultures, including West African, Creole, French, Spanish, German, and Choctaw.

The delicious fun does not end with the crawfish boil. After everyone is full and you all start to clean up, you realize that there are all kinds of leftovers… corn, potatoes, carrots, and more. If you are like me, you hate to throw out anything. Don’t.

The best thing about these leftovers are the flavors that are now boiled in. Cut the corn off the cob and add it to a vegetable recipe later that week. Or take the potatoes and corn and make them into a potato salad (the best seasoned potato salad you will ever make). Or cook down the potatoes in a pot full of water to make a potato soup and throw in all the leftover vegetables – delicious. The possibilities are endless. What is your favorite thing to do with leftovers from the boil?

Boiling crawfish is lots of fun and really easy once you get the hang of it. But you do need a few special items that you might not have lying around (unless you grew up in south Louisiana!)

Before your mudbugs arrive, make sure you have an outdoor propane cooker, along with a nice supply of propane. (Nothing kills the fun of a crawfish boil like hearing your fire sputter and die while you’re right in the middle of cooking, and realizing too late that you’re out of propane!)

You’ll also need a large boiling pot with a lid and perforated basket inside. Obviously a bigger pot can boil more crawfish at once, so that’s a consideration if you’re feeding lots of people. (And remember, the more “batches” you boil, the more seasoning you will need to continue to add to the water, as lots of the spices are absorbed by the crawfish during the boiling process.)

A stirring paddle is helpful, too. It’s especially useful to mix in the spices and to help prepare the vegetables before the crawfish are boiled. (It’s also a good way for the cooking crew to scoop out a few mudbugs to sample the seasoning mix!)

Finally, you’ll need a large washtub or a couple of ice chests on hand, as well. They are used to keep the sack(s) of crawfish cool and damp before the boil, and to keep the crawfish warm after they’re done. (Once you designate an ice chest as your “warmer” after boiling, you might want to keep using that ice chest over and over. It will still function like a regular ice chest if you use it to go fishing or hunting, but it might get a bit discolored inside from the hot spicy crawfish continually poured into it.)

If you’re not boiling the crawfish immediately when you get them home, find a nice shady spot to keep the mudbugs cool. Poke a few holes in bags of ice and place them on the sacks to allow the cool water to drain over the crawfish (just make sure the crawfish are not stored for an extended period in standing water.) If you’re doing this with an ice chest, make sure your drain plug is open, or if you are using the Styrofoam ice chest that the crawfish came in, poke holes in the bottom for drainage. One eight-pound bag of ice is enough to keep smaller orders (10-15 pounds) overnight. For larger orders, use two bags of ice for each 30-pound sack.

For detailed information on how to actually boil the crawfish, peel them and make an awesome homemade crawfish dipping sauce, check out our Live Crawfish Manual here.

The only other thing you’ll need is FUN! Crawfish boils here in south Louisiana are all about family and friends gathering together and enjoying each other’s company. It’s a pretty laid back affair, so don’t sweat the small stuff. Experiment with the vegetables and spices to find out what you and your friends like best. But most of all, enjoy the whole process and have fun: that’s what crawfish boils are all about!

There are many foods that can be eaten raw – veggies, fruits, and even an impressive list of meats and seafood. However, there are some foods that should NEVER be consumed uncooked! One of these is crawfish. Unlike oysters, which many people choose to eat raw, eating raw crawfish can have serious results!
Paragonimiasis is the name given by the doctors at Washington University to the illness caused by eating raw crawfish. The illness is caused by a parasite carried by crawfish, but when it is ingested by people causes high fever and sharp chest pain. There have even been cases where someone has ingested more than one of these parasites. When this happens, it is not abnormal for the parasites to reproduce in the person’s lungs! More severe issues have occurred when the parasite found its way into the heart, brain or even caused temporary blindness.

No, this is not something out some far-fetched science fiction story, but rather a very serious problem –especially during crawfish season, that has happened more than one may realize. Even more frightening, is that Paragonimiasis can lay dormant for several months so that by the time the symptoms begin, the person has likely forgotten that they ate raw crawfish. In the cases where the symptoms are not manifested till later, patients have been misdiagnosed with ailments such as pneumonia, tuberculosis or even having their gallbladder removed. There has been one death related to Paragonimiasis, but it was more a result of the illness being combined with a pre-existing condition.

So now for the good news…. Paragonimiasis is easily treated, once it is detected. The treatment requires a two-day series of an anti-parasite drug. Nevertheless, it should also be noted, that without the treatment the parasite will eventually die – though that could take up to five years!

Also of interest, is that of the reported cases of Paragonimiasis, there have been none among the Louisiana crawfish crowd, but rather the majority of cases were in Missouri.  In addition, with the exception of one case, all the people were male, and with the exception of a 10-year-old boy who, determined to show off his survivor skills to his buddies by eating a raw crawfish, all the people had knocked back several alcoholic drinks.

So, save yourself the pain and trauma of Paragonimiasis and set out to find some great ways to prepare cooked crawfish! Here at Cajun Crawfish we are always searching the Web to find tasty new ways to showcase the sumptuous goodness of the Louisiana crawfish. After all, we want to showcase the flavor of Cajun crawfish as part of a hot meal shared with friends and family. We do not wish to come visit our loved one in the hospital because they ate a raw crawfish! So remember, they ain’t oysters, don’t eat ‘em raw!

Ingredients

2 lbs. Fruge’s cajuncrawfish.com tail meat
2 tsp. cajun seasoning (preferably Fruge Seafood Boil)
1 pkg.pistolette rolls (up to 20 rolls)
3 c. oil (frying)
1/2 lb. cheese (cubed)
1 c. evap. milk
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter
1-1/2 tsp.minced garlic
1/4 c. green onions (chopped)
1/2 c. bell peppers (chopped)
1 c. onions (chopped, finely)

Directions

Melt 1/4 cup of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, remove a 1/2 teaspoon and put in a separate skillet, place aside. Back to the saucepan (with the remainder of the butter) stir in the chopped onion, bell pepper, green onions, and garlic. Cook and stir until the onion has turned translucent. Add evap. milk and bring to a simmer. Stir in the cheese until melted. Reduce the heat to low, and keep the sauce warm. in the large skillet that you had put aside with the melted butter, put on medium heat and add the crawfish tails. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and seasoning. Cook and stir until the tails are hot and beginning to curl. Combine both pans and cook for an additional 5 minute.

Heat oil in a another large skillet (350°). Place the pistolettes in oil and cook while turning to all sides until golden brown. Remove to cool onto paper towels. Once cooled, open up one end with a slit and make a pocket in roll. Stuff them with the crawfish mixture and serve right away.

Nachos and Crawfish = Crawchos!

We like our crawfish in a boil with all of the fixings. Or, we like a nice sauce-smothered crawfish étouffée. That being said, any recipe with crawfish is good in our book. Let’s take a look at how some other fine folks cook ‘em up.

7 Unique Crawfish Recipes That Will Make Your Mouth Water:

1. Gnocci with Crayfish – This recipe is so good that we’ll forgive them for misspelling CRAWFISH. This fusion of Italian and Cajun is unusual. But, that wouldn’t stop us from chowing down.

2. Crawfish Spinach Pie – You certainly don’t need to be Popeye to find this dish irresistible. Go ahead and put me down for seconds.

3. Crawfish Cheesecake – You may have had of crawfish pie, but have you had crawfish cake? This crawfish cheesecake would make an incredible main dish for any brunch.

4. Crawfish Stew with Cinnamon and Star Anise – This stew sure beats out Dinty Moore and with no flour it’s perfect for the gluten-free crowd. You can add Tabasco if you want to heat it up a bit.

5. Crawchos - That’s right, crawfish nachos (for the win!). When you run out of chips all you need is a straw.

Are you hungry yet? (We have just the remedy).

Can’t wait to give each of these a try in the kitchen!
Do you have a unique recipe for crawfish to share? Please drop it in the comments so we can give it a whirl.

Crawchos photo courtesy of The FeauxCajun Kitchen

Perhaps one of the most recognized and loved dishes of Cajun cuisine is etouffee. Its rich flavors have delighted the taste buds for more than 7 decades. And, while it is traditionally made with crawfish, there are variations that use shrimp or crab.

Etouffee is a French word, which translated literally means “smothered” or “suffocated.” However, in relation to food, it refers to a method of cooking where seafood is smothered in vegetables with a tomato-based sauce, resulting in a stew-like seafood dish. As a side note, many true foodies and culinary experts will tell you that a true Cajun crawfish etouffee does not contain tomatoes. The addition of tomato is a Creole way of preparing the dish.

Today, crawfish etouffee recipes abound, but that was not always the case. Food historians trace back Louisiana crawfish etouffee to the crawfish capital of the world, Breaux Bridges, Louisiana. According to culinary history, etouffee was first served in the Hebert Hotel in the early 1920s when Mrs. Hebert, along with her daughters, Yoli and Marie, made crawfish etouffee using crawfish tails, crawfish fat, onions and pepper. Later on, the Heberts shared their recipe with their friend, Aline Guidry Champagne. Ms. Champagne later opened a restaurant, the RendezVous Café, and began serving the dish there.

Today, the Hebert’s recipe has been altered somewhat as the original had more crawfish and a thinner sauce; whereas, now it is made with a thicker sauce. But, if you should wish to have crawfish etouffee made like the Hebert’s first served it, you should visit Café des Amis in Breaux Bridge.

Despite its longtime history of being on the menu in Breaux Bridge, it was not as popular in New Orleans until some years later. In fact, the renowned Galatoire’s Restaurant on Bourbon Street did not have crawfish etouffee on the menu until a few decades ago when one of the waiters brought the dish to the boss. The crawfish etouffee was an instant hit, and is now on the menu whenever crawfish are in season.

Making a Louisiana crawfish etouffee can take some time, but it is truly worth it. Its buttery richness (typically, people today replace the crawfish fat with butter) paired with the succulence of the crawfish, just the right amount of cayenne, then served over a bed of fluffy white rice is truly one of the best uses of Cajun crawfish there is.

So how do you make your crawfish etouffee? With tomatoes and without cream? Without either ingredient? A little cayenne or a lot? There are so many great ways to make crawfish etouffee and everyone believes their family has the best recipe.  So…If you have a favorite crawfish etouffee recipe, we would love to hear it! If you don’t, be sure to check out our crawfish etouffee recipes here on Cajun Crawfish.

Photo credit: jeffreyww

By Patrick D. Bonin
Photos supplied by Dave Schweitzer 

Ever see a crawfish like this one before? It almost looks like he escaped from our ponds, made his way to saltwater, and got covered in barnacles!

Actually, it’s not all that unusual to find some of these “crusty crustaceans” in our traps this time of year. (And don’t worry, the dirty appearance isn’t harmful and doesn’t affect the taste of the crawfish at all.)

What you’re actually seeing on this crawfish are the eggs of an insect known as “water boatman.” According to the LSU AgCenter, the water boatman eggs are laid on newly molted crawfish and are usually most abundant on the head and below the eyes.

Many non-harmful microorganisms and microscopic plants and animals use the crawfish’s shell as a hard surface for their growth, just like rocks or twigs that have been immersed in water for a long time, according to LSU.

Ed Guidry, operations manager of Fruge’ Aquafarms in Branch, La.,
explained why we don’t normally see crawfish like this earlier in the year.

“Right now, late in the season, the crawfish have pretty much stopped growing,
and that means they’re not molting out of their old shells any more,” he explained.
“So anything that gets attached now, we’ll see when we catch them.

“When this happens earlier in the season, we don’t see it because the crawfish
are constantly growing and molting,” he said.

Biologists refer to water boatman and other “fouling organisms” as ectocommensals.
Hot summer temperatures contribute to the process, as ectocommensals grow and spread rapidly on the crawfish’s shell when the water is warm.
Consequently, the combination of the crawfish not shedding its shell along with rapid
ectocommensal growth results in some mudbugs having a dirty appearance.

So if you ever come across a crawfish like this late in the season,
feel free to toss him in the pot with all the rest.
He might not be as “pretty” as all the others, but he’ll taste just as good!

Thanks to Dave Schweitzer for sending these pictures and giving us a great idea for a blog.
If you have an idea for a blog we could write, let us know… we would love to write it.

Highlights: Getting Pinched, Crawfish Races and Quality Time…

By Patrick Bonin

Life is full of incredible “firsts.” Your first words. Your first love. Your first kiss. Your first car.

And if you’re really lucky, your first crawfish boil!

CajunCrawfish.com recently conducted an on-line contest asking folks to write about their memories of the first time they ever experienced the amazing sights, sounds, smells and tastes of boiled mudbugs. You can see Mary Pitman’s entire winning entry here!

Apparently these tasty crustaceans make quite a first impression, especially with kids. From hosing down the sacks before the boil to getting pinched for the first time, mudbugs seem to evoke fond childhood memories.

“We would pick the biggest bugs out and have crawfish races,” wrote Lisa Anderson, of Conway, Arkansas. “Try getting a crawfish to race when he is turning around and holding his pinchers up like he’s going to snatch your nose off! LOL! Nothing like a big crawfish boil to bring family together!”

Allison Atkins from Maryville, Tennessee mistakenly thought all the crawfish she found in their old washtub were going to be new family pets!

“Once I found out we were going to eat them, I told my cousins that our family had lost our minds, and we had to set the little things free,” she recalled.

After a failed rescue mission, she initially refused to eat them, but couldn’t hold out for long.

“The smell was intoxicating. I grabbed one and fell in love! I went from animal rights activist to a head-sucking, tail-eating, crawfish-loving Cajun,” she wrote.

Jeremy Billeaudeaux, from Chino Hills, California, recalled an interesting visit he and his brother experienced with his grandmother in south Louisiana about 40 years ago. After getting a sack of crawfish, she left the boys in the car with the mudbugs while she stopped inside a grocery store to pick up supplies for the boil. That’s when the crawfish started making their way out of the sack…

“I bolted into the store in a pure panic,” Jeremy wrote. “(But) my 3-year-old brother was not so lucky. Forty pounds of crawfish were slowly making their way towards him.”

In true Cajun fashion, they returned to the car and found the youngster calmly picking the crawfish up and throwing them back towards the sack!

“He had successfully fended off a mad crawfish attack at three years old,” Jeremy recalled. “Later that night after everything had calmed down, we all had a great laugh about the youngest Billeaudeaux fending off 40 pounds of crawfish as we enjoyed the spoils of the great crustacean battle!”

Aside from being a culinary delicacy, it seems the powerful lure of crawfish has even played a part in launching some long-term relationships!

Allyson Bossie of Hurdle Mills, North Carolina recalled her first date with her “now husband” at a restaurant serving boiled crawfish, where he eventually got her to try them.

“They were scary looking for sure, but so amazing tasting,” she wrote. “Turns out we have been inseparable ever since and now that we are married, we have crawfish every year for our anniversary.”

Kimberly Butler’s first mudbug experience came with her fiancé at the Crawfish Festival in Syracuse, New York, where she initially refused to sample the crustaceans.

“His family said they would pay $200 (they pooled their money together) for me to try it and I did! I tried it for the first time and fell in love!”

Butler, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, is getting married in October, and now crawfish is on the menu at the reception!

Dana Fontenot of Durango, Colorado even attributes her marriage to her “lightning fast” crawfish-peeling skills that she learned as a child at big family crawfish boils.

“My future husband would just stare at me at a crawfish boil because I could peel those darn things three to his every one,” she wrote. “I think that’s why he married me!”

Mark Kirshbaum from Humboldt, South Dakota wasn’t motivated by love, but rather the prospect of living the lifestyle of the rich and famous when he first sampled crawfish.

“My father said they were miniature lobsters, which we thought only the rich people ate. My cousin and I, both about 9 or so, decided we would be just like the rich,” Mark wrote.

So as they were seining for minnows, they filled up a coffee can with the crustaceans, headed home and removed the tails and shells before boiling them!

“We made a mess,” he recalled. “All we knew was that they had to be boiled, so into a pan they went… They were so overcooked they chewed like rubber. By the time we finished eating, we had decided that if this is what rich people eat, we would stay poor.”

The magical powers of freshly boiled Louisiana crawfish even had one entrant contemplating loyalty to his home state.

Lee Levesque was born and raised in Maine, where seafood is abundant and lobster is almost everyone’s dish of choice. But after a stint in the Army landed him in Louisiana at Fort Polk in 1967, mudbugs won him over.

“Ever since that day many years ago, I still think I prefer crawfish over lobster,” Lee wrote. “I am sorry, Maine. I’m not renouncing my statehood, but I do love crawfish!”

We understand Lee. Because while crawfish themselves are delicious, and the corn and potatoes and sausage and mushrooms and onions all taste unbelievably amazing, one of the most important ingredients at a crawfish boil in south Louisiana is the presence of family and friends. Having the opportunity to sit down elbow-to-elbow and visit makes memories for everyone, everytime!

Sarah Cary, of The Colony, Texas, never totally understood why everyone got so excited talking about crawfish boils when she moved from Michigan eight years ago… until she went to her first one last summer.

“I TOTALLY GET IT now!” she wrote. “Not only is it delicious, but the camaraderie of cracking (the shells) and eating is priceless!”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Thanks to everyone for entering, and stay tuned for more contests in the future!

Delicious recipe made by Genêt Hogan raisedonaroux.com