Eating Crawfish in New Orleans

It is true that portion sizes tend to be large in New Orleans.  The food is good and people like to enjoy it. Now that Lent is upon us and many people are eschewing meat, it seems it is the season for boiling crawfish.  The weather is certainly  nice enough for cooking outdoors.

An excerpt from today's Times-Picayune:
"...4 to 5 pounds per pounds [of crawfish] per person is typical for a South Louisiana boil.  People here can, and will, put them away.  Outsiders, not so much.  Figure 2 pounds for out-of-towners."

4 to 5 pounds?!?!  I can't say I'm surprised.  Much of the weight is comprised of shell, which is inedible, but when I buy crawfish for dinner, I buy a total of two pounds for both the lady of the  house and I.  It is more than enough.

We haven't been to a crawfish boil yet.  When I read the recipes in the article it mentioned putting frozen corn in the boil.  I assumed it meant kernels but later figured out that it's frozen corn on the cob.  I didn't even know there was such a thing.  Corn on the cob is something I've always bought fresh toward the end of summer.  As usual, every day here is a learning experience.

The full T-P article here.

I've tried sucking the heads but don't find it particularly appetizing.  I'm a person who eats the lobster's tomalley with gusto.  I'm sure I'll acquire a taste for the head eventually.  Waste not, want not.

Crab taxidermy

I've been thinking of doing some crabbing.  I've talked to some old timers who have given me some likely spots where the crabs are thick as thieves.  No, I'm not telling you where.

Crabbing in Louisiana is a very different pastime than crabbing in New England so I was doing my online due diligence.  Did you know there's a crab taxidermist?  He does nice work but he's in New Jersey, of all places.  I haven't been able to locate a local crab taxidermist, crabadermist (?).

While the preserved specimen looks much more glorious after embalming than he or she did when first caught, that is the nature of memorials after all, isn't it?  I wouldn't mind having a display of a whole bodied crab in diorama action or mounted on the wall.  When company comes I can regale them with the story of the battle of WK vs. crab and how my superior hunter skills won the day and the boiling pot.

I see signs for boiled crab all over New Orleans and I know it is an important industry.  I've eaten a few though I've never seen anyone, myself included order one in a restaurant.  Its messy food, like lobster. Also like lobster, it is a very satisfying meal.

Fun crawfish facts

The Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association has provided some interesting nutritional information.  I was reading this morning that five pounds of crawfish provide only one pound of meat.  The lady of the house and I split two pounds the other day.  According to the charts, we each consumed 80 calories.  I'm unsure how many we expended with all the peeling.