What is a Crawfish Boil?

Posted by Benson

What is a crawfish boil?  I got asked this question a lot when I was living in the Midwest.  It seems that many people find the idea of a crawfish boil to be sort of strange, exotic, exciting, and alluring all rolled up together.  The truth is I’ve never been able to give a satisfying answer.  Growing up in south Louisiana, crawfish boils were a part of everyday life and they seem pretty normal to me.  The best answer I’ve been able to give is that it’s kind of like a barbeque but you eat crawfish instead. 

It turns out that Professor Jay Hunter, author of Red Swamp Crawfish: Biology and Exploitation, agrees with me. “Crawfish boils,” he says, “are important social gatherings…comparable in every way to New England clam bakes and southwest barbecues.”  There you go: it’s kind of like a barbeque but you eat crawfish instead.  While that description is generally accurate, it’s just never satisfied me and I think that’s because it doesn’t capture the lagniappe; that little something extra that makes a crawfish boil special. 

As much as it resembles a clam bake or a barbeque, a crawfish boil is a unique outgrowth of the cultural amalgam of the Atchafalaya basin, and New Orleans in particular.  It has deep roots in Cajun culture, going back to a time when Cajuns were thought of as low class and crawfish as the food of hungry hillbillies and swamp-dwellers.  But as crawfish consumption became more mainstream and Cajun culture became a celebrated part of Louisiana’s cultural landscape, the crawfish boil has grown into a tradition that not only reinforces community bonds, but also celebrates Louisiana life. 

Like any clam bake or barbeque, the crawfish boil is a time to enjoy good company and good food, as well as to reconnect with family and friends.  But the crawfish boil is also a time for Louisianans to experience and recreate what we love about our home.  It celebrates the friendship, relaxation, and generosity that we value and the local food that identifies our special place in the world.  It is a time to Laissez les bons temps rouler, or let the good times roll, as we say in New Orleans. 

This is really what makes a crawfish boil a special event, and I think it’s a description that I’m finally satisfied with.  It’s steeped in the mysterious brew of history, environment, and culture that makes Louisiana so alluring and such a rewarding place to call home.  It’s an event that not only allows us to celebrate Louisiana life, but also to share that experience with our friends.