Louisiana Boiled Crawfish

The tradition of the crawfish boil began where the crustacean are the most plentiful, the rural communities of Cajun Louisiana. Acadiana, located south west of New Orleans, was settled by refugees from Acadie, a French colony located in Canada, in the late 1700's. This colony is now known as Nova Scotia. These people, known as Acadians were driven from their homes and farm lands by the Brittish and found their way down south to Louisiana. They settled outside of New Orleans. Over time, the name Acadians became Cadians and then finally, the name they are known as today, Cajuns.

These Acadians soon used their wilderness skills in their swampy new home. The Cajuns were skilled with trapping, hunting, and angling. They found out easily that there was much to eat in the Louisiana wetlands. One of these things was the crawfish, or écrevisse and it was quickly intergrated into their spicy cuisine.

Before World War II, crawfish were mostly caught by fishermen for their family tables. In the 1940's processing plants were builts near the Atchafalaya Basin. At this time pre-peeled crawfish tails sold for the very first time at local markets. Twenty years later, Louisiana Rice farmers and crawfish experts teamed up to raise the small shellfish in the rice fields across Louisiana's coastal plains. This resulted in a more controlled growing environment that the wild crawfish, that are susceptible to all of nature's different variables. The season can run from December to the 4th of July. The ideal time to harvest and purchase crawfish is usually around April and May.

Ingredients:

* 3 x 35 pound bags crawfish
* 25 pounds red potatoes
* 2 pounds garlic
* 25 ea fresh corn cleaned and broken in half.
* 10 pounds salt
* 1 8-ounces bottle Rex or Zatarain's Crab & Shrimp Boil liquid concentrate
* 20 ounces red (cayenne) pepper
* 20 ounces black pepper
* 4 ea box (or equal) crab & shrimp boil
* 32 ounces powdered louisiana (or equal) crab & shrimp boil

* 2 bottles 12 ounces catsup
* 2 bottles 12 ounces tabasco sauce
* 2 bottles squeeze butter
* 1 douncesen lemons
* 4 ea large yellow onions
* 8 ea rolls paper towels
* 4 ea old newspaper to spread on tables
* 2 ea tables
* 2 ea 39 gal garbage cans with 39 gal plastic bags.
* 1 ea 60 qt cooking pot w/cooking basket
* 1 ea propane gas burner w/stand

To do this right, it has to be done in several batches, starting with the vegetables.

Batch #1: 25 pounds red potatoes & 2 pounds garlic

* 2 ounces red (cayenne) pepper
* 2 ounces black pepper
* 16 ounces salt

Using a 60 qt pot fill with water half full, add seasonings and bring to boil. Add potatoes and garlic. Cook ~1 minute per pound of potatoes. Control heat to prevent boil over.

Remove from water and drain over cooking pot. Place in container (cardboard or styrofoam box) and include 25% with each crawfish batch.

Batch #2: 25 ears fresh corn, broken into 2 pieces

* 2 ounces red (cayenne) pepper
* 2 ounces black pepper
* 8 ounces salt

Add seasonings and bring to boil. Add corn and cook between 12 and 15 minutes.

Remove from water and drain. Place in container and include 12 pieces with each crawfish batch.

Batch #3: 25 pounds crawfish

* 8 ounces powdered "crab & shrimp boil"
* 4 ounces red (cayenne) pepper
* 4 ounces black pepper
* 24 ounces salt
* 32 ounces liquid "crab & shrimp" boil (with 8 ounces liquid concentrate "Crab & Shrimp Boil" make a one (1) gallon batch )
* 3 ounces Tabasco sauce or your favorite Louisiana hot sauce
* 24 ounces vegetable cooking oil
* 1 bag Rex or Zatarain's "Crab & Shrimp Boil"
* 2 lemons cut in half. squeeze into seasoning pot throwing reins into pot.
* 1 large yellow onion cut in half.

Bring water to slight boil. Spray down crawfish to clean off any mud residue. Put 25 pounds crawfish (70% of 35 pound bag) in and bring to fast boil. Add water if necessary. Make sure all crawfish are below water line. Control heat to prevent boil over. Cook for about 10 minutes, 15 max!!

Remove from water and drain. Spread equally on two tables (covered with plastic or newspaper) along with potatoes, garlic and corn pieces.

Provide each table with squeeze butter for corn. Provide each table with 2 bowls of "hot sauce mix" for dipping crawfish tails.

Hot sauce mix consist of 24 ounces catsup, 12 ounces tabasco sauce and 12 ounces horseradish. Mix together and split into 4 bowls.

Stand there and eat crawfish until you're full. Provide 2 rolls paper towels per table and replace as needed.

Provide area with paper towels, liquid soap and lemons cut in half to wash hands. To wash, first squeeze lemon on hands and rub. Rinse with water then add liquid soap, rub hands and rinse.

Batches #4,5, & 6
Repeat batch 3. If there is some concern that batches 5 & 6 will be too spicy, reduce red and black pepper amounts for these batches by 1 to 2 ounces.