Text: Chef John Folse
When I was growing up in St. James in the 1950s, spring meant crawfish season. The weather got a little warmer each day, and the evenings were tinged with a damp coolness that built up excitement about the next day’s adventure. I can almost hear the peals of laughter that rang out as the six Folse brothers headed down Zeringue Lane with setnets, willow poles, and a bag of chicken necks.
Our destination: the sand pit located just beyond Mamère Zeringue’s house. An old sawmill once stood there, making this the perfect crawfishing spot for the family. Four good setnets and a willow pole could get you a number 3 tub of crawfish in no time! Then it was off to the house for boiling or steaming them.
Crawfishing on your own was a milestone in the life of a young Cajun child. It gave us a sense of independence and pride as we learned that good things come from a hard day’s work. As I sip my coffee on these early spring mornings, I become nostalgic—a little sad, too—when I realize how many of our youngsters (and their parents) miss this Louisiana rite of passage. So many activities vie for their attention: video games, cell phones, and the next soccer or baseball game. For me, nothing beats the exhilaration of pulling a setnet filled to the brim with mudbugs from a crawfish pond!
This time of year also makes me reminisce about another spring tradition: making crawfish bisque for Easter Sunday lunch. Mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and great-aunts would gather in the matriarch’s home on Good Friday to create this Easter delicacy. I’m blessed to have the family recipe, which I now bequeath to you.
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups diced onion
- 1 cup diced celery
- ½ cup diced green bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 pound crawfish tails
- ¼ cup tomato sauce
- 2 to 3 quarts shellfish stock
- Stuffed Crawfish (recipe follows)
- 1 cup sliced green onion
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
- Kosher salt, ground black pepper, and granulated garlic, to taste
- Steamed white rice, to serve
- 2 pounds cooked crawfish tails
- 1½ cups minced onion
- 1 cup minced celery
- ½ cup minced green bell pepper
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 2 cups seasoned Italian bread crumbs
- Kosher salt, ground black pepper, and granulated garlic, to taste
- 60 crawfish heads, cleaned*
- In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour; cook, stirring constantly, until a dark brown roux is formed, 12 to 15 minutes. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, and minced garlic; cook until vegetables are wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in crawfish tails and tomato sauce. Gradually add stock, stirring until a sauce-like consistency is reached. (Additional stock may be needed during cooking process to retain volume.) Bring to a rolling boil; reduce to a simmer. Gently stir in Stuffed Crawfish. Simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent crawfish from settling to bottom of pot and scorching.
- Add green onion and parsley. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. Serve over steamed white rice.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the work bowl of a food processor, place crawfish tails, onion, celery, bell pepper, parsley, and minced garlic; grind for 30 seconds. Transfer to a large bowl; add eggs, stirring to combine. Add bread crumbs, a little at a time, using just enough to hold mixture together. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic.
- Fill crawfish heads with stuffing. Any remaining stuffing can be reserved and stirred into Crawfish Bisque. Place on prepared pan.
- Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Set aside until ready to use.
“FOR ME, NOTHING BEATS THE EXHILARATION OF PULLING A SETNET FILLED TO THE BRIM WITH MUDBUGS FROM A CRAWFISH POND!”
