I made it back home in time for Mother’s Day, and I thought that our Mom’s Day meal was definitely a fitting “Back in Baton Rouge” post: CRAWFISH!

Cooler of Crawfish

It has been such a long time since I’ve had boiled crawfish, so I was really excited when my mom said that was what she wanted to eat on her day. We bought these freshly boiled from Baton Rouge seafood staple, Tony’s Seafood. I was a little disappointed that my dad didn’t make them himself like usual, but Tony’s did an excellent job.

First Tray of Crawfish

Sucking the Head

Here’s my first tray of crawfish (I like to start small so I don’t feel like such a huge pig on my 2nd and 3rd trays) and a little head-sucking action. I’m not a true crawfish head sucker, as I just like to get the juices out and not all the “stuff”. The next step in eating is “pinching the tail” to get the meat out. I’ve heard non-natives say that this is too much work for such a small amount of meat, but when you have really well cooked crawfish (so spicy your nose runs), it’s all worth it. Tip to new eaters: Don’t eat the crawfish with straight tails, because they were dead before they were cooked (and who knows how they died). Here is a great website on how to boil and eat crawfish.

I saved some empty crawfish shells to try making my first crawfish bisque, so stay tuned for a post on that attempt. What a great start to a great summer!