Page 16 - March & April

14 MYROUSESEVERYDAY MARCH | APRIL 2013
FEATURE
I t’s a backyard springtime ritual. It’s a feast that inevitably
turns into a party! It’s time to boil the crawfish. First tim-
ers are often puzzled by the eating process, which involves
separating the tail from the head, sometimes sucking the
spicy juices from the head and peeling the crawfish tail —
something usually smaller than an average shrimp. Once mas-
tered, those tasty crawfish become an annual tradition—one that
most of Louisiana and Mississippi succumbs to every year.
Luckily, your crawfish craving can be satiated at restaurants and at
Rouses, which boils over 3 million pounds a year—but nothing is
quite as fun as boiling a sack of crawfish yourself.
It’s a relatively easy process if you’ve got the right equipment. A big
boiling pot and an outdoor propane burner are a must. An average
sack of crawfish will feed about ten people, as most real crawfish
eaters can easily polish off up to about five pounds per person. The
crawfish need to be alive as they go into the pot and they need to be
clean. They’re not called mudbugs for nothing! Pour them from
the sack into a large tub and rinse them thoroughly.
While the crawfish are having their pre-boil bath, heat the water
and add your seasonings. Quartered onions, celery, halved heads
of garlic and lemons and a seasoning mix like Rouses Seafood Boil
goes into every boil. Bags or jars of dry seasoning mix are prefer-
able but many also spike the boiling liquid with some extra flavor.
Most dry seasoning already contains salt—but you may want to
add some extra salt as well.
From there, every crawfish boil is individualized by the boiler’s
choice of ingredients. Corn and potatoes are found in virtually
every pot. Some people add smoked sausage—Rouses has a great
green onion version. Whole artichokes and button mushrooms
are becoming fairly commonplace in the boil, and here’s a tip from
Donny Rouse—hard boil eggs with your crawfish; the trick is to poke
a whole in them right before they’re done so you let all the seasonings in.
The crawfish boil for five to seven minutes before soaking in the
spicy liquid for an additional fifteen to twenty minutes. Drain
them and have that long picnic table covered in newspaper ready
for the spread. For some extra spice, sprinkle the steaming pile
of crawfish with a little extra dried seafood seasoning mix. That’s
sure to guarantee spicy, good results.
Have lots of cold local beer and other beverages on hand to quench
the inevitable thirst—and eat as many boiled crawfish as you can
while they’re in season—because when they’re gone, they’re gone
and you’ll have to wait till next spring for another crawfish feast.
Great Boils of Fire
Major League Eaters compete in the 2012 Rouses Crawfish Eating Contest
photo by Eugenie Uhl
by Poppy Tooker + photos by Frank Aymami
STEAMING!
You can’t add boudin directly to a boil or it will crumble, but its great
steamed on top of the crawfish for 3-5 minutes.
—Donny Rouse
CRAWFISH BOIL
Cajun Crawfish Boil The Benjy Davis Project
Crawfish Elvis Presley
Crawfish Soiree (Bring Your Own) Dr. John
Jambalaya Hank Williams
Crawfish Fiesta Professor Longhair
Crawdad Song Harry Belafonte
The Crawfish Song Zachary Richard
Eat More Crawfish C.J. Chenier
Crawfish Mike Sanchez &
the Beat from Palookaville
Playlist!
ARTIST TRACK