It’s so good to see you again here at the Susitna Cafe’! We’ve been on the road along the Gulf Coast, USA…oh my, and good times have been rolling at Mickey and Cookie’s Annual Crawfish Boil in New Orleans, LA…
Crawfish boils are entrenched in Louisiana family and cultural tradition. The gastronomic techniques are typically passed from generation to generation. According to Cajun (a person of French Canadian descent) legend, crawfish are descendents of the Maine lobster. However, unlike lobster, crawfish are a freshwater shellfish. A crawfish boil includes crawfish, sausage and an assortment of vegetables boiled and soaked in a delightfully spicy brew.
Mickey and Cookie’s Annual Crawfish Boil has been in their family for about 19 years. Their family and friends look forward to the event every year. Only once was “The Boil” canceled, and it required the rath of Hurricane Katrina to prevent this lively event from happening in 2006. But even then, the spirit of Mickey and Cookie’s Annual Crawfish Boil was alive…despite Katrina, the annual t-shirts were still designed and distributed by Mickey’s family.
This year attendees traveled to “The Boil” from around Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Florida and North Carolina to join the fun. Lucky for us, the Susitna Cafe’ attended too!
Hey, how about if I introduce you to Mickey and Cookie? Then we can learn about the gastronomic and other fun details of “The Boil”!
Here’s Mickey busy as a bee. She’s organizing the troops and getting ready for the big day.
Mickey is retired from the Navy and is a New Orleans street artist. Mickey served as the Crawfish Boil cook extraordinaire for the first 5 years. Mickey says “Hi to Y’all!” at the Cafe’.
Oh look! There’s Cookie getting ready for the Crawfish Boil. Looks like she’s cleaning up and getting ready for the tents and chairs to be delivered…
She sure is a nice lady…Cookie is a retired bank VP who loves to spend time with her family…Cookie says “Hi to Y’all!” too.
Well, over the years, attendance at Mickey and Cookie’s Annual Crawfish Boil has grown to about 100. So, now Huey does the cooking with a little help from some of his friends.
Huey is a fun lovin’ New Orleans undertaker with a great sense of humor. He’s also an amazing Crawfish Boil cook! Huey tends to say things like “Coooh, luk at da size o dat crawfish!” (i.e. an expression of astonishment). Or, he says things like “Please go get de sack o crawfish, sha.” (i.e. dear (French “cher”)).
So my Susitna Cafe’ friends, how does this big party come together? Well, the food preparations start on the eve of “The Boil”…
First, all the veggies (yellow onions, carrots, celery, red potatoes and garlic) are prepared.
The ends of the garlic and onion are removed. The carrots and celery are cut into 3-4″ chunks. Afterwards, the prepared veggies are evenly distributed into 10 plastic grocery bags. The veggie bags are stored overnight in the refrigerator awaiting the big day…
Next, the yummy artichokes (my personal favorite in the boil) and mushrooms are prepared…
Since the artichokes and mushrooms tend to separate in the boil, they are placed into nylon ladies knee highs like so…
The artichokes and mushrooms are stored overnight, with the other prepared veggies, in the refrigerator.
Next, folks take a break and enjoy refreshments…
Uh-oh…looks like there are no refreshments until tomorrow…
So, back to work…next, the butter is placed in styrofoam containers. They’re stored in the refrigerator overnight and will be placed on the tables during “The Boil”.
Alas! The big day arrives so there’s a bustle of activity starting early in the morning…supplies get pulled out of the attic…
The tables get set-up and dressed in ‘Who Dat’ colors (i.e. New Orleans Saints team colors), and condiments, paper towels, bibs, plates and silverware are distributed on the ‘Who Dat’ tables…
Cooking tents and gear get set-up…
Mickey prepares her special seafood dipping sauce with ketchup, horseradish, and fresh squeezed lemon juice…
The crawfish are delivered (very important that this get’s done :O)
The outdoor high-pressure propane cookers for the 60-80 gallon stainless steel boiling pots are fired-up…
The crawfish are purged and washed in water…
All the Bebs (i.e. sweetheart or darlings) provide assistance (very important)…
The stainless steel pots are filled with water and brought to a rolling boil. Meanwhile, lemons are prepared by rolling and slicing in half. The lemon juice is squeezed into the water along with the halved lemon sections. The prepared veggies from the plastic grocery bags are added along with the veggies wrapped in ladies knee highs. Salt, 2 dry bags of crawfish boil spices and 1.5 cups of liquid crawfish boil are added to0. All the ingredients are cooked for about 10 minutes or til the potatoes are tender…
Next, the crawfish are added to the pot and the top is dusted with cayenne powder…
After the water comes to a rolling boil again, the boil cooks for about 5 minutes. Periodically the boil is stirred with a big crawfish paddle. The sausage, cut in 1-2 inch chunks, are added to the boil and all the tasty bits steep in the spicy brew for about 20-30 minutes…
Around noonish, the guests begin to arrive…
They hug and greet each other…
Beverages are served…
Some folks at “The Boil” label their cups so they don’t get confused with someone else’s beverage. You know, sort of like using wine charms for wine glasses. However, in this case, the cups are labeled like “Mr. Wonderful” or whatever else comes to mind…
People smile…
People chat…
More beverages are served…
While some folks buy raffle tickets to participate in a drawing for fun prizes…
Raffle tickets are purchased from the “Hula Girls”, of course…
Or, some folks “people watch”…
Afterall, there’s almost always something interesting to see…
After awhile, some folks say things like “I got an ahnvee for some crawfish!” (i.e. a longing or hunger (French “envie”))…
So, the crawfish and veggies are poured into the pirogue (i.e. boat) for serving…
Folks serve themselves…
Then…they dive-in!
And everyone enjoys!
People get full…
And the pirogue gets empty…
Oh…did I tell you that people bring desserts?
Like homemade red velvet cake?
Homemade strawberry shortcake…
And Cannolis (a personal favorite :o)!!!
And Susitna Cafe’ pies…
After dessert, people wait in anticipation for the raffle drawing…
Some feel particularly lucky…
So, Mickey calls the lucky ticket numbers while Cookie helps with the prizes…
And people win!
The luckiest win Hawaiian shirts…
After the raffle, games begin…
People smile…
And they’re happy!
So my Susitna Cafe’ friends…Mickey and Cookie say “Who Dat Say Dey Got A Better Boil!”
Mickey and Cookies’ Laissez Les Bon Temps Roules! Crawfish Boil
Protein
320 pounds fresh, live crawfish
10 pounds Conecuh smoked sausage
Veggies
20 pounds #2 red potatoes
12 pounds yellow onions
4 large bags carrots
4 large bags garlic
4 packages celery
4 large cartons button mushrooms
12 artichokes
Flavoring
16 boxes dry crawfish boil seasonings (Zatarain’s Crawfish, Shrimp and Crab Boil is good)
2 gallons concentrated liquid crawfish boil (Zatarain’s Concentrated Shrimp and Crab Boil is good)
Cayenne Pepper
Salt
Other
3 packages ladies knee highs (2 pairs in each pack)
Traveler’s Notes: Be sure to say hello to Mickey and visit her outdoor studio on Jackson Square in New Orleans, LA
Cooks Notes: Many of the ingredients in the Crawfish Boil are at your discretion. Add more garlic to intensify the garlicky flavor…add more artichokes if you like them…be sure to use #2 size red potatoes to be sure they conveniently cook for the same amount of time as your other veggies. Oh, about the garlic…be sure to squeeze the cloves and spread on saltines…
Salmon
Susitna Cafe' Chronicles 
