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4/29/14

A Crawfish Boil by any other name... could be crayfish or even crawdad!






Today's post was simply supposed to be me posting a photo my husband took at dinner the other night.
An after hours dinner for co-workers.  A Crawfish Boil in traditional Southern Style.


However, I'm watching this post get longer and longer as it grows a life of its own! 

You see, we are not originally from the South (which you already know if you visit my blog often).  We've relocated all over the country and lived in various states and regions.  Our most recent relocation to the deep South means I have embraced most things Southern... but I've never in my life held a Crawfish Boil myself. 

My husband attended an after-work dinner party for employees and snapped this photo on his phone of dinner and sent it to me. I just wanted to post the photo because it made me smile and looked like a very fun, delicious dinner.

Simple, right?  Except here in the South they would call it "Supper", not Dinner -  and in the North, we would call these little guys crawdad's or crayfish... not crawfish. 

See how this can suddenly get a little confusing?





Dialect maps by Joshua Katz based on data from the Harvard Dialect Survey conducted by Bert Vaux and Scott Golder.

Having lived all over the United States I've used all three terms for these little critters, but generally speaking I call them Crayfish or Crawdads.  But I've never held a Crawfish, Crayfish, Crawdad Boil.

Because my entire post happens to be about a dish I've never personally made, I went looking for a good overall, popular, typical version of this yummy dish.    This one seems to be the most popular version of ingredients except I find most people don't add mushrooms....



12, 3 ounce bags Zatarain's Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab Boil
5, 8 ounce bottles liquid Zatarain's Concentrated Shrimp and Crab Boil
1, 4 lb jar powdered Zatarain's Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab Boil
18 ounces table salt (we use about 3/4 of a large Morton's salt container)
3, .12 ounce bottles bay leaves
1, 1.75 ounce bottle cayenne pepper
7 large onions quartered
12 lemons
6 heads of garlic cut in half horizontally
2 large bags of celery with leaves cut into thirds
5 pounds smoked sausage
9 lbs small red potatoes (left in the mesh bag if possible)
6, 8 ounce boxes of fresh mushrooms
2 sacks of live crawfish (60-65 lbs)
Desired amount of frozen corn on the cob (usually 2 pieces per person) ............................

For the rest of this recipe, please visit My Invisible Crown - as this is probably one of the best photo-step-by-step recipe and instruction I found.  She does an incredible job and I'm pretty sure almost anyone could make this recipe from her instructions and photos!

Another good source:  Insider Baton Rouge


I'm laughing at myself a little as my intention to post a photo of my husbands dinner the other night now has turned into a short lesson on dinner vs. supper and crawfish, crayfish and crawdads.    No matter what you call it in your part of the country, ENJOY!







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