If you don't happen to know what a crawfish is, I'm gonna let you Wikipedia that stuff 'cause I just don't have the time to explain. While you certainly CAN eat crawfish anytime of the year, they're really only fresh and soft enough to peel for a very short window in the year. After that, I'm told the water gets too hot and they bury down in the lake waters/mud.
Back to the party....I drive about an hour+ to get to the location where the party is being held (a very nice house w/a pool and well manicured yard). Since, at this point, I've only been in town for a little over three months, there are few people I know at this shindig, which really wasn't a problem for me socially, I've never had a hard time meeting new people. The problem comes later.... Thankfully, though, my friend and his wife who invited me to the Bacchus Ball were at the party.
As you would expect at a party, folks were milling about, drinking and talking. The kids were running too and fro. Merriment abounded. It was at this point that they brought the first batch of crawfish out. I'd never seen anything like it! The men carried this massive pot over to two long tables and began dumping out cooked crawfish, potatoes, mushrooms, garlic, and corn. After the food was dumped, people closed in on the table and got to work. The only thing I can equate this initial scene to is that of an animal trough, w/all animals descending upon the trough to get some tasty vitels.
Now, I try to get in there and see what this is all about, when I realize there's a problem: I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO EAT THESE THINGS! I've eaten crawfish plenty, but the tails have already been peeled and are usually in a sauce or a fondue. Before me on this table were cherry red mudbugs w/full on shells and whisker-like things and eyeballs....How in the WORLD am I supposed to eat this? My salvation came from my friend and his wife who, although they laughed at me plenty, graciously showed me how to peel and eat the crawfish. I think it took me like 3 minutes just to peel the first one on my own, and during those three minutes, they must have peeled a dozen! If my friends hadn't helped, I woulda driven back to New Orleans pretty hungry that night!
The food was excellent-spicy but not so hot my lips were on fire-washed down positively perfect w/an ice cold beer! I wasn't able to get any pics of my actual first time, but I did get some of my second time at my friend Shaun's house for Mother's Day. I might add, now that I'm no longer a novice to the whole crawfish peeling experience, Shaun's husband Curtis' crawfish are the best I've ever had, and to this day, while I'll pinch a tail just fine, I am NOT sucking a head!
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