Crawfish

'Suck the head, pinch the tail!'

Apparently that is what they say in Louisiana.  It is crawfish season so last Sunday we headed to 'The Good Ole Boys' at Interstate 10 and FM-1463.  You can't really called this a restaurant as it is kind of a shack with some plastic tables outside.  No plates (just some cardboard baskets), napkins are a roll of kitchen towel and I don't think they even own any knives or forks!

Bu the crawfish were great!  They boil them by the bag then put them in a cooler box with a spicy marinade.

(note the 'Fried Swamp Gator Bites on the menu.  Unfortunately they were out, would have given it a try!)

After lunch I spoke to the owner and asked him what 'The Good Ole Boys' do outside crawfish season.  He told me they do everything from smoking their own sausage and bacon to deer and hog processing (in hunting season) to 1800 fried (!) turkeys and 800 glazed hams at Christmas time!

Some crawfish facts from Wikipedia:

Louisiana supplies 98% of the crayfish (referred to locally as crawfish or crawdad) harvested in the United States. In 1987, Louisiana produced 90% of the crayfish in the world, 70% of which were consumed locally. In 2007, the Louisiana crawfish harvest was about 54,800 ton, almost all of it from aquaculture.

Louisiana crawfish are usually boiled live in a large pot with heavy seasoning (salt, cayenne pepper, lemon, garlic, bay leaves, etc.) and other items such as potatoes, corn on the cob, onions, garlic, mushrooms, turkey necks, and sausage. There are many differing methods used to season a crawfish boil, and an equal number of opinions on which one is correct.^[27] They are generally served at a gathering known as a crawfish boil. Other popular dishes in the Cajun and Creole cuisines of Louisiana include crawfish étouffée, fried crawfish, crawfish pie, crawfish dressing, crawfish bread and crawfish beignets.