Cajun Crawfish

Planning Your Memorial Day Crawfish Boil
Memorial Day is just around the corner and the warm weather party season is officially in high gear. So to get things started off on the right note, why not throw a Memorial Day crawfish boil? After all, a crawfish boil is as American as hot dogs and burgers, only a lot more fun to eat!

Of course, if you have never hosted a crawfish boil then this may sound a bit intimidating. But what exactly is necessary to have a successful Memorial Day crawfish boil? So, glad you asked! Here are some tips for throwing the perfect crawfish boil – no matter where you live.

6 Tips for the Perfect Memorial Day Crawfish Boil
1. Order at least 3 pounds of live crawfish per person who will attend. (Rule of thumb for purchasing food for a Louisiana crawfish boil– 60 pounds of crawfish will feed 15 – 30 guests; 90 pounds should feed 25 -30 guests.)

2. A few days before your Memorial Day crawfish boil, check to see that you have paper products – don’t forget newspaper to line the serving table with, propane for the grill, a large pot (think big – perhaps grandma’s big stew pot!) and an equally large paddle with which to stir the pot. You will also want to order, or reserve the crawfish, so that on Memorial Day, you can just go pick up your crawfish. To keep it truly patriotic, you can even ask for some of the blue and white crawfish, too!

3. On the day before you do your shopping. Be sure to also pick up corn on the cob, potatoes and onions to toss in the boil along with your crawfish seasonings, plenty of beer and lots of ice! You may also want to include watermelon, as a dessert, as the sweetness of the melon is great foil to the spices and heat of the Louisiana crawfish boil seasoning.

4. When your guests begin to arrive for your Memorial Day crawfish boil, you will want to be ready to start cooking. Place that large pot on your bruner, fill it with your seasonings, and of course, a healthy amount of beer and add the potatoes first –these will take the longest time to cook! Now, when it comes to the perfect recipe for the proper Louisiana crawfish boil, there is a wealth of opinions, so be sure to check out our How To Boil Crawfish page to determine what appeals to you.

5. When the cooking is complete, drain the basket and pour down the center of a newspaper lined table or, you can put the food in several Styrofoam containers lined with foil. Then give out a holler, and let everyone know the Memorial Day crawfish boil is ready to devour.

6. Every good party needs some entertainment, so consider having live music or a DJ, plenty of games and places for mingling and dancing.
And there you have it – the steps to planning a perfect Memorial Day crawfish boil. So, whatcha waiting for? Get those invitations out and get ready to have a great Memorial Day crawfish boil!

You can order your live crawfish from us right now!

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.

Big Alligators Inside Crawfish Ponds Just Don’t Mix

By Patrick Bonin

Branch, LA – For 25 years, Ed Guidry has worked as the Operations Manager at Frugé Aquafarms: he’s involved in all aspects of rice and crawfish production, and he’s a key guy who specializes in solving problems when they arise.  You could say he’s pretty much seen it all.

But in his two-and-a-half decades here, he’s never faced an issue quite like the one he encountered in a crawfish pond late last month. Ed came face to face with an 11-foot-6-inch, 420-pound male alligator… with an even bigger attitude!

“I got a call mid-morning from a very startled fisherman, but I didn’t know exactly what the problem was because she speaks Spanish,” Guidry said. “When I got there, she was still very upset, crying up on the hood of the truck. So I got into one of our crawfish boats to go and see what I could find.”

Suspecting a small four or five-foot gator, he drove through the pond for 10 or 15 minutes and saw absolutely nothing.

“Every once in a while, maybe when we have a big flood, we might have a little alligator in one of the ponds, and it doesn’t bother anybody and nobody bothers it,” he said. “It stays around a bit, but it usually heads further down the bayou to a better habitat where it has enough food to eat. The water doesn’t really stay in our crawfish ponds long enough for one to live here.”

But just when he was about to give up looking, the boat rolled right over the huge submerged beast. (After things calmed down a bit, Ed found out the first startled fisherman had actually run over the big gator as well, nearly flipping her into the water.)

“He definitely wasn’t scared of the boat. The only reason I found him was because I hit him,” he said. “He spun around pretty fast and came towards the boat with his mouth wide open. I had never seen one that size in person ever before, and I’ve been fishing and hunting in south Louisiana all my life.”

For his own safety, as well as the safety of the fishermen who harvest crawfish in that pond, Ed killed the big gator with a couple of shots from his .22 rifle.

“It was unbelievable. It took me and three other guys to pick it up, put it in the boat and bring it to the landing,” he said.

We contacted the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to report the incident, and they sent out a game warden to investigate. Despite the danger presented by an alligator that size on the property, as well as our need to be able to safely harvest our crawfish crop, Ed was ticketed for taking an alligator out of season and not being a licensed alligator hunter.

“The game warden was a really nice fella who was pretty lenient with me. I could have actually been arrested,” Guidry said.

A licensed nuisance hunter came by later that day and took the alligator, leaving Ed with only memories of his once-in-a-lifetime encounter.

“I understand why I had to be ticketed, but I’m just glad everyone here is safe,” he said. “It would have been very easy for that gator to knock someone out of a boat, or grab their arm as they leaned over to work the crawfish traps. So all in all, I think it worked out for the best.”

And the big gator’s presence has made all of the fishermen a bit more attentive while they harvest thousands of crawfish traps out here on the farm each and every day.

“Everybody’s looking around a little bit more, I guarantee you that,” Guidry said with a chuckle. “Everyone’s being more careful out there.”

By Patrick D. Bonin

Branch, LA – Getting the crawfish into our traps is just half the battle here at Fruge Aquafarms. Getting them out of the traps, cleaned up, sorted, sacked and ready for your pot are the other vital pieces of the mudbug harvest equation!

And considering that we bait and empty about 11,000 traps each and every morning during the height of crawfish season, you can just about imagine the time and manpower that it takes day-in and day-out just to get the crawfish out of the ponds.

Our secret weapons in the process are our custom-made crawfish boats!

These 14-foot aluminum boats are outfitted with four 13-inch tires (two on each side) and one big paddlewheel, which actually churns in the mud on the pond bottoms to propel the boat forward.

And our fishermen use foot pedals, not a steering wheel, to navigate through the ponds hands-free, so they’re easily able to empty the crawfish traps onto a sorting tray and keep the process moving.

And speaking of moving: the boat rarely stops during the entire harvesting process. Traps are carefully spaced so the fisherman has time to grab it, empty it and re-bait it just in time to place it back in the pond and pick up the next trap.

So why have wheels on the boat? To make traveling from pond to pond easier and more time-efficient.

“The four wheels allow the boats to be amphibious,” said Mark Frugé, co-owner of Frugé AquaFarms. “We’re able to drive on land for short distances, cross farm roads and get into and out of the ponds pretty easily.”

Mark explained that when harvesting for the day is complete in one pond, the fisherman can simply drive out and head for the next pond, so the whole harvesting process can begin again. The paddlewheel provides the power, and the tires provide clearance for the boat to ease over the land

This way, fishermen don’t have to waste time getting their gear and bait into and out of several boats throughout the day: it streamlines the process and makes the tough task of harvesting all those mudbugs a bit more efficient.

The Frugé Aquafarms  custom-made crawfish boat: that’s just how we roll.. and float!

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?

By Patrick D. Bonin

Nothing says “love” in south Louisiana like crawfish, so make plans now to fire up the burner and honor Mom on May 12^th with a Mother’s Day crawfish boil!

Mother’s Day as we know it is actually an American invention first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial service for her mom. She started a campaign to make the day an official holiday in the United States and was successful in 1914, although she became disappointed with its commercialization by the 1920s.

Jarvis eventually became a vocal opponent of what the holiday had become, and spent all her inheritance and the rest of her life fighting what she saw as the abuse and commercialization of the celebration.

But the holiday was adopted by other countries and is now celebrated all over the world. In the United States, it is always on the second Sunday in May, but other dates are used in some places.

In most Muslim countries, Mother’s Day is celebrated on March 21^st, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, moms are honored on Mothering Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent. In Panama, the holiday is held on December 8^th, the same day as the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Russian traditionally celebrates International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day on March 8^th, which was the custom in the Soviet Union. In Sweden, moms are honored on the last Sunday in May, a later date in the colder climate, which allows everyone to go outside and pick flowers.

Most countries celebrate as we do here, with cards, flowers and small gifts for mom. In New Zealand, it is tradition that mothers be served breakfast in bed. In Japan, people typically give their moms red carnations and roses. In Belgium, fathers buy croissants and other pastries and bring them to the mom while she is still in bed – the beginning of a day of pampering for the mother. And in Australia, chrysanthemums are the flower of choice: not only is it in bloom during autumn Down Under, but it ends in “mum,” which is the common affectionate abbreviation for “mother” there. Men often wear chrysanthemums in their lapels to honor their wives and mothers.

So wherever you might be, and whatever tradition is dear to your family, don’t forget to honor your mom on Sunday, May 12^th. Happy Mother’s Day!

Those of you familiar with crawfish know exactly what this saying means. But to everyone else out there, let me just say that it has nothing to do with the opposite sex.
What is the meaning of this cryptic phrase? Why, it’s non other than the exact advise you need to know how to eat a boiled crawfish!

As most of you know, the best part of the crawfish is the tail. That’s where most of the meat is. The pinch refers to the action (actually a pinch and a twist) that you need to take to release this tasty mudbug morsel from it’s red armored shell.  For some, this is the end of their crawfish experience, but for the rest of us adventurous eaters we know that the spicy Cajun juices and flavors are hidden in the front half, or the head, of the crawfish. This is the sucking part. “Sucking the Head” may not be for the faint-of-heart, but it’s well worth the risk as it may just be the most flavorful suck you ever embark on! If you want a further explanation of how this is all done, here’s detailed one: How To Peel & Eat Crawfish.

Enjoy and Laissez les crawfish rouler!

Order Live crawfish now!

Here at CajunCrawfish.com we love the whole crawfish. We love the color, shape, claws, and we even love their beady little eyes. But if there’s one pat of these Louisiana mudbugs we love the most, its the tail! After all, tails is where the meat is! We love them so much we think their downright sexy. We love crawfish tails, and who doesn’t love a nice piece of tail?

Love the whole crawfish? then click here to order some.

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!

“This rich, creamy soup will knock you off your feet! Great as part of a large meal, but meaty enough to use as a full meal.” — Randy Brown

Ingredients
•    6 tablespoons butter
•    1 onion, chopped
•    1/4 cup all-purpose flour
•    2 cups chicken broth
•    3 cups half-and-half cream
•    1 teaspoon salt
•    1 1/2 pounds peeled crawfish tails
•    1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
•    1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste

Directions
1.    Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, and cook and stir the onion until golden, about 8 minutes. Stir in the flour until smooth, and cook and stir the mixture until it turns a pale golden color, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the chicken broth, stirring constantly to avoid lumps, then mix in the half-and-half, salt, crawfish tails, Worcestershire sauce, and cayenne pepper.
2.    Reduce heat to medium-low, and continue whisking as soup comes to a simmer. Allow the bisque to simmer for about 5 minutes, until slightly thickened. Do not boil.

Recipe provided by www.Allrecipes.com –