NEW ORLEANS– Living in Louisiana, especially this time of year crawfish boils have become a way of life for us.
Nobody wants to go to a boil where the crawfish seasoning is bland. WGNO’s Kenny Lopez spoke with a seasoning scientist with Zatarain’s who gives us some valuable boiling tips.
Claude Davis a.k.a. “Dr. Boil” with Zatarain’s gives us some great boiling tips to make your next crawfish boil the most well-seasoned of all.
Davis who’s also known as Dr. Boil is Zatarain’s Principal Scientist. He said that crawfish boils date back to the late 1800’s with the Native Americans.
“Then in the 1950’s there was the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival which really exploded and that is the largest crawfish boil to date,” he said.
From its boiling beginnings to now one thing’s remained the same and that’s fabulous flavor.
“The perfect seasoning is when you have the right amount of salt, the right amount of cayenne peppers, the black pepper, the red pepper, and all those cajun seasonings,” Dr. Boil said.
“Our Zatarain’s professional boil has five times the spice, and it just gives you the magical flavor,” he said.
All the boil seasoning containers are equivalent for use with a sack size of crawfish. If you have two sacks, then use two of the boil seasoning containers.
“Then if you want to add liquid, we have lemon and garlic and onion too,” Dr. Boil said.
Another way to add some extra pizzazz to your crawfish boil is to use the boil seasoning and the liquid and that will help to really bring the heat.
Through a combination of pre-made seasonings and boil liquids, you’ll get that special spicy flavor.
“As you know the longer you soak, the more flavor the crawfish are going to absorb,” he said.
Davis stated, “I always pick up one crawfish and taste it. That’s to see if it is the right spice level and the right heat level. If not then I let it sit a bit longer.”
This “Dr.” also orders some lagniappe…
“Add some of your favorite vegetables. Whether it is mushrooms or something else. Add a little variety, have some fun with it, add some pineapples, you name it,” he said.
And how do you know when your boil is best?
“When you see people going back for more then you realize and know it is good,” Davis said.
Now that your crawfish is well-seasoned and your brain is well-seasoned with the do’s and don’ts for your next boil, there’s only one more thing to do and that’s to eat the mudbugs.
For more information about Zatarain’s, click HERE.
