In Season

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Every year I wait for football to start in the fall. I wait for baseball in the spring.  However, the wait for crawfish has been the most difficult.  Each winter the cold temperature determines how long we will wait for the crawfish season to begin.  This year we had a very mild winter and many fishermen started delivering crawfish to the restaurants as early as November.  Normally, it is January before any serious amount is harvested. I anticipated a bountiful harvest and prices to slide. That didn’t happen. Fishermen at Christmas time were receiving $2.25 to $2.75 a pound for their catch.  Restaurants bought every little creature in site. As the weather became mild, their catches got greater and most of the restaurants got greedy.  They are now paying from $1.25 to $1.50 per pound and are selling five pounds of boiled crawfish for $26.95 to $32.95.

I started looking at another source, “Chinese Crawfish”. Yep! You can purchase them at Wal-Mart. They are larger than our little buddies here and are available year round. Wow! Problem solved.  I suddenly began to recall the dog food fiasco where many dogs were seriously poisoned and died over tainted dog food.  Then, I remembered the baby formula crisis where an additive was used to boost the protein level to meet requirements to sell on the open market.  There went my yearly supply.

My mind started to examine our local source.  Locally, crawfish is harvested two ways; in harvested rice field flooded during the winter and spring crawfish is harvested till around June.  The second source is in local rivers, swamps, and lakes. This method of fishing is called deepwater crawfish.   They are harvested in a different manner.  This is the more traditional method from days gone by. It’s not as plentiful of a harvest but a larger and cleaner crawfish.  Well if they harvest from rice fields and crawfish live in the ground, then all the pesticides and fertilizer from over the past 75 years still reside in the soil.

I need to find another source. Yes, the larger than life cousin of the crawfish, the lobsters.  Raised in the ocean, they are harvested and flown to my favorite market year round.  Do I just eat one like a normal person?  Not at all!  If an order of crawfish cost an average $30.95 plus beer, tax, and tip, then how many lobsters will that will buy.  I can still pinch the tale. The head may be a little awkward to suck, but the claws are magnificent.  I may even get an extra claw from my wife’s plate. Then again… maybe not.

It may not be the traditional meal for a Cajun, but after all, we are about quality and quantity.  Lobsters are now “The Other Deepwater Crawfish.” I can’t wait to see how many lobsters fit in my crawfish pot!

RESTAURANTS SELLING CRAWFISH AT $30.95 AN ORDER      YOU RATE      2

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