Crawfish boils: A neighborly event
Here is an excerpt from Craig LaBan's online chat: Craig LaBan: Last weekend I hosted a crawfish boil for my block for the first time in a few years. We flew in 100 pounds of fresh crawfish from Lafayette (www.CajunGrocer.com is a fantastic, affordable, reliable source for next-day UPS deliveries), some r
Here is an excerpt from Craig LaBan's online chat of May 24, 2016:
Craig LaBan: Last weekend I hosted a crawfish boil for my block for the first time in a few years. We flew in 100 pounds of fresh crawfish from Lafayette (www.CajunGrocer.com is a fantastic, affordable, reliable source for next-day UPS deliveries), some real andouille, boiled links of porky boudin, and spice-crusted cracklins from my favorite Louisiana butcher shop (the Best Stop in Scott). I fired-up my old 60-quart boiling rig, dusted off my trusty golf driver (a secret weapon for stirring the pot; golfing, less so), and gathered an enthusiastic contingent of hungry neighbors. It's amazing how swiftly a bunch of Northerners will take to the lip-numbing spice and mantra-inducing activity of peeling and eating crawfish - along with corn, mushroom, potatoes, and garlic, of course. So much fun despite the torrential rain and cleanup. A half-keg of Trauger Pilsner from Neshaminy Creek was the ideal brew to wash it down.
Reader: I'm a crawfish nut. We even went to Breaux Bridge, La., for the annual festival. Is there anywhere within driving distance to get the real thing?
C.L.: I love Breaux Bridge! Home to Café des Amis, which was one of my favorite places for real Cajun food when we were down there. Best barbecue shrimp and boudin-stuffed "pig ear" beignets with cane syrup on the planet. There aren't many places around here that can do a genuine crawfish boil the way you'd find it in Louisiana, because that demands a certain volume to make bringing in fresh crawfish worth it. In many cases, people are using frozen crawfish and heating them up. That said, I've been to several of the Asian steamed seafood places around town - like on Washington Avenue, and also the new boiled seafood spots in Chinatown. The key is whether they're using fresh (alive) or frozen crawfish, which are usually puny compared with the ones we just got. Some of the best I've had, though, were at Red Kings II in Chinatown, because they were glazed in a sweet and spicy Sichuan sauce that I could not stop eating.
Reader: Will you try the new high-end steak house at SugarHouse Casino?
C.L.: Just opened, so we'll see. I've never had anything to eat at that dreary casino that was worth sharing with the chat room or anyone else. So a bit of ambition might be worth reporting.
Reader: Rhubarb is officially in season. I had two excellent desserts in the last week, a rhubarb galette with mascarpone and ginger at Hungry Pigeon, and my favorite - a grapefruit sorbet with arak, rhubarb, and almond at Zahav.
C.L.: I'm loving rhubarb right now, too. ... Best rhubarb thing I've had lately? I drank it at Vernick in a cocktail. ... See this coming Sunday's drink. Will have to try that sorbet!
Reader: Wm. Mulherin's Sons is the best new restaurant I have been to in a while. ... The bucatini all'Amatriciana had a perfect kick and the homemade bucatini was perfectly cooked. Anything that comes out of the 900-degree wood oven (margherita pizza, veal tartar on toast) has a great crisp to the bread. Also, a hangar steak was deliciously juicy, while the black bass with 'nduja and clams in a spicy tomato sauce was my favorite dish.
C.L.: Been hearing great things about Wm. Mulherin's Sons.