I Attended My First Ever Crawfish Boil and it Was Everything

When you think of Minnesota, I doubt the first thought that comes to your mind is a crawfish boil. Typically our backyard parties consist of burgers, hotdogs and corn on the grill, like the rest of the Midwest.

But my friends, who are not to be stopped, decided they are going to break all of those stereotypes and refuse to be put into a box of food conformity. And let me tell you, I am here for it.

They hooked up a propane tank to a boiler with a huge pot sitting on top. I’m not sure what I was expecting to see, but it was a much humbler set up than I anticipated. But in my experience, you don’t need fancy equipment to make the best tasting food.

They started by heating up the water and cooking potatoes, onions and corn. Everything was done in batches and left to steam in plastic rubbermaid containers while more seasoning was added to the pot. It was amazing to watch actually. Not to mention, the smell was intoxicating!

There was great anticipation to see the last step of the process which was adding in the shrimp and crawfish. I inquired where these alien-like specimens had come from, (we may be the land of 10,000 lakes, but that doesn’t lay host to much in the way of shellfish) and was informed that they had been ordered from a local company - Coastal Seafoods who had them freshly delivered.

From start to finish, I would say the cooking process took about an hour. It didn’t feel like an overly-long time. Just long enough to have a few beers, catch up with friends and work up an appetite.

The last step was to pour the crawfish into the plastic tubs, sprinkle in the remaining spices and give it a good shake!

Now it was finally time to dig in! We were each given a plastic bib and a cup of melted butter. Talk about thinking through the details! This isn’t their first rodeo.. or however the saying goes.

Folding tables were covered in newspapers and lemon halves. The center piece was an old cardboard beer box lined in plastic for the discarded shells. Once the meal was dumped evenly across two tables, we set to work cracking open the shells, dunking them in butter and gleefully shoving the salty meat into our mouths. It was messy, ugly, and fucking delicious!

It was quite possibly the best dinner party I’ve ever attended. I don’t need a fancy 5-course meal with a wine pairing that I can’t even pronounce. Give me a plastic bib, a cup of butter and food dumped all over the table any day!