Dating back to the Native Americans...then adopted by European settlers and African slaves, the crawfish (crayfish, crawdad or mudfish) has been and vital part of Louisiana culture, and remains that way today.
Most attribute crawfish with Cajun culture. It is believed that since the Acadians (Cajun ancestors) originated from the Canadian Maritime provinces, seafood was already a staple of their diet. Upon arriving in Louisiana after expulsion by the British in 1765 during the French/Indian War, they settled along the bayous, where crawfish were abundant. Furthermore, their interaction the Native Americans, and thier great lobster and fishing experience, led to the integraton of crawfish into their diet; and as the Acadians became Cajuns, the tradition of eating crawfish continued.
However, others argue the first European introduction to crawfish could have gone back as far as 1528, when the Spanish first explored the Louisiana territory...then over a century later when the French arrived.
Slaves didn't come to Louisiana until 1708 from the West Indies. Then, it was only two. By 1724, the slave population grew. This was more a half century before the arrival of the Acacdians, so one can argue that these earlier "residents" could very well have adopted what the Native Americans were eating for over a millennia.
While these different schools of thought may debate well into the night about who was the first to try crawfish, one thing is for certain. Both sides tend to shut up when they are the the table with a pile of freshed boiled crawfish in front of them.
Until the 1960s, crawfish was largely considered a ''poor man's lobster'' as it was mostly consumed in poor rural areas.
1 lb Crawfish Tail meat
1 1⁄2 cup Johnsonville Andouille Sausage diced (GF)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
3 cups fresh corn kernels cut from the cob
3 cups red potatoes, diced
1Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1⁄2 cup Pinot Grigio
3 stalks celery, chopped fine
4 sprigs of thyme, de-stemmed
4 cups whole milk
1⁄4 cup Bob's Redmill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
Kosher salt
black pepper
green onions, chopped
Zatarains or Old Bay Crawfish Seasoning
Hot Sauce
In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat
Add diced sausage, sauté to render fat
Add garlic, onion, celery, and thyme and sauté until the celery wilts
Deglaze pan with Pinot Grigio, stirring the brown bits in the pot with a wooden spoon.
Add corn kernels and potatoes
Add 3½ cups of - set aside remaining ½ cup.
Stir and season to taste with salt, pepper, Old Bay or Zatarains seasoning (both are gluten free), and hot sauce.
In a small bowl, whisk flour with the remaining milk to create a paste
Slowly add paste to soup. Continue whisking to thicken.
Slowly add crawfish tails
Simmer about 12 minutes
Adjust seasonings to taste
Stir in onions and serve
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