Is a crawfish seafood? They're technically freshwater crustaceans — and if you can name another example of one, I want to be on your team at the next trivia night. Google them and you find a list of unfamiliar, multisyllabic species names from across the globe, including the domestic "crayfish"; I'll just chalk up crawfish as another unique Louisiana thing.
A crawfish boil is an inherently social act, though nowadays it isn't conducted as a survival exercise among weary Acadian settlers so much as simply to exercise some springtime joie de vivre. These muddy bottom-feeders have somehow become the centerpiece of culinary events held all along the third coast.
The big guy below was king of the cooler last Sunday at my dad's birthday party. He kept climbing up on top of the others and waving his claws at whatever or whomever came close. Of course it didn't stop him from being poached and eaten like the tasty little morsel he is, but at least I had a chance to capture this photo, which is now framed and displayed on my desk.
