Good Eats (1999–2012): Season 13, Episode 1 - Crustacean Nation 4: Crawfish - full transcript

Good evening,
and welcome once again
to the food gallery.
Tonight, we visit an
experimental exhibit that
looks into the future of food.
Or rather, at one of many
possible futures of food.
Behold, the majestic
blue‐fin tuna.
The warm‐blooded bullet
of the deep,
a global traveler,
capable of mile‐deep dives
and freeway speeds.
Here is the cod,
the ground fish that
changed the world
and was for ages, at least,
as prolific and plentiful
as the stars in the sky.
As was, Homarus americanus .
The lobster.
This alien from the deep
can grow up to 40 pounds
in 100 years.
It's crushing claw
capable of delivering
750 pounds‐per‐square‐inch
of pressure.
Now what unites these
disparate denizens of the deep?
They're gone.
Vamoose, vanished,
as in, extinct...
Or very nearly so.
Why?
Well, some point fingers
at the fisherman.
Others the processors.
Some the managers,
the marketers, the politicians.
Personally, I blame you...
And me.
We gorged ourselves, you see,
on a precious few species,
rather than diversifying our
seafood portfolios
and in the end, the system
could not take the strain.
But as I say, this is just
one possible future.
We can perhaps avoid it
by actually pretending that
it's already happened.
For instance,
instead of lobster,
why not turn to its diminutive
freshwater cousin,
which is bite‐for‐bite
just as sweet.
And in America,
pleasantly sustainable.
I know what you're thinking,
crawfish, A. K. A. crawdads,
crawdaddies, crayfish, lollies,
mudbugs, yannies, ditchbugs,
are strictly blue collar
Cajun fare.
Not the sort of thing
a high‐falutin' swell
would nosh.
Well, I say, not only are these
delicious decapods
an answer to one of
life's nagging questions,
they're absolutely...
♪
♪ Good Eats ♪
♪
The word crayfish comes from
the french word "ecrevisse"
meaning "to crawl."
But in this country,
crayfish are just plain...
Crawfish.
Now that's what I call this
and I'm not alone.
Thomas Say said so, too.
He was the first
American Zoologist to make
serious study of them.
1817, I think.
I'm sure that pre‐dates
the use of the word "crayfish"
by, I don't know, at least
a couple of decades.
So you are a crawfish.
Crawfish are freshwater
decapods,
thus, ten legs,
and they are indeed
related to lobsters.
Now some 500 species
can be found worldwide,
from Southern Europe
to Southeastern Russia,
Madagascar, Australia.
Tasmania is actually home to
a crawfish that grows larger
than most lobster.
North and Central America
are home 340 species,
including this Cambrus unestami ,
I think it is,
which I used to stalk
here in the chilly
streams of Georgia
back in my youth.
Now when it comes to
culinary service,
there is but one main species
to consider,
the red swamp crawfish,
which is of course native
to Louisiana.
Take a look out there,
most of this state can't decide
whether it's land or water.
The bayous, lakes, ponds,
and streams around here
with their vegetable‐rich,
slow‐moving water
and muddy shorelines,
are a prefect habitat
for crawfish.
Now this area below us,
the series of ponds,
is actually a crawfish farm
in Natchitoches Parish
in Louisiana.
This area is not exactly
hardcore Cajun.
The story of the crawfish,
or at least the crawfish's
relationship to human beings,
is a very Cajun tale indeed.
Once upon a time,
the lands now known as
the Canadian Maritimes
were called Acadia.
They were home to a large
population of French colonists
who called themselves
Acadians.
Now in 1713, the French Crown
sieded most of these lands
to England.
King George ordered
the Acadians to take an oath
of allegiance to him
or get out!
Afraid that taking such an oath
would one day force them
to take up arms against their
fellow countrymen,
or the Indian tribes that
they had lived alongside
for so many years,
the Acadians refused
the hospitality.
England rewarded them
by kicking 14,000 people
out of their homes,
in what became known as
Le Grand Derangement,
The Great Expulsion.
After years of wandering,
the remainder of the Acadian
people settled
in what is now Louisiana,
where the word Acadian
eventually morphed into "Cajun".
According to legend, however,
another lesser known exodus
took place soon thereafter.
During their years in Canada,
the Acadians formed a tight bond
with lobsters,
who so missed their human
friends after the expulsion
that they hauled up
out of the surf to follow them.
The journey took them years
and years,
but the lobsters finally
caught up.
Unfortunately, the endeavor
was so grueling,
it shrunk the majestic crusties
to a fraction of their
original size.
That's how we came to have
crawfish.
Modern crawfish farming is like
harvesting any other crop.
First, the fields are prepped.
Now in this case, ponds,
which are dry through
late summer and fall
when the crawfish burrow into
the mud,
but flooded in winter.
When temperatures rise
in spring,
baited traps are set.
The daily harvest begins.
Rather than a tractor
or a combine,
the job is done via
this curious craft,
which is propelled a large
hydraulically powered wheel.
Today, this contraption is
being driven by David McGraw,
whose ponds these are.
As he pulls and empties
the traps,
his son‐in‐law Justin
grades the crawfish,
passing them through
a grate of parallel bars.
Anything that slips through
escapes to see another day.
But anything else goes into
a big mesh bag
to be washed, chilled,
packed, and sent out to
a grateful world.
Although, it's relatively
early in the season,
some of McGraw's bugs
are gigantor.
And I'm grateful for the gloves
that protect me,
at least in part,
from their wrath.
Although tail meats are
sold separately,
as far as I'm concerned,
crawfish should only be
purchased whole and alive.
That is the way that we are
going to get the most flavor
out of them.
Now that makes transport
something of a challenge
because you have to
keep them alive.
So what you wanna do is
you wanna put the mesh bag,
whatever size it is,
usually 35 to 40 pounds,
if you like that,
you're gonna want to put that
into a cooler.
I like just pure polystyrene.
And you're gonna want to cover
completely with frozen
gel‐style cold packs.
Five or six will do the trick.
Slap on the lid
and do not open it.
Now in this condition,
if they are fresh,
they'll keep for
two to three days.
If you let them.
Although crawfish is as
versatile as any crustacean,
I'm gonna stick with
southern tradition
by cooking up the spicy melange
known in these parts,
simply as a boil.
♪
First thing I like to do
when I get my crawfish home is
to give them
a nice, cool shower.
Since this isn't exactly
their native habitat,
I would suggest cooking
within just a few hours of
receipt,
unless, of course,
you elect to purge.
They were probably captured
in the act of chowing down,
so odds are good that right now
your crawfishes G.I. Tracts
are gonna contain some...
Stuff.
Personally, I don't find this
offensive,
as long as they are thoroughly
cooked.
But if the idea of squeaky clean
insides appeals to you,
then a purge might be
right up your alley.
Now there are many, many recipes
out there that
call for just a quick dip
in saltwater.
Supposedly that's gonna make
them, I don't know,
spontaneously
regurgitate everything.
All it really does is
make them good and mad.
Nope, to clean out a crawfish,
you have got to soak it
in clean water
for at least 24 hours.
The problem is...
Crawfish are heavy breathers.
An armored company such as this
could suck all the O2 out of
5 gallons of water in no time.
Now if you put them in
something bigger, like say,
a kiddie pool...
(screaming)
Well, that could get ugly,
now couldn't it?
Here's a better plan.
Get yourself a cooler
in the 54‐quart range.
Make sure that it has
a drain plug.
Fill it halfway full of water,
and then install ‐‐
that's right,
it's a $30 aquarium pump
in the 30 to 80‐gallon range,
available at your pet store.
Won't cost you more than $30,
I promise.
Time to move the bugs
into the cooler
where they will have plenty of
oxygenated water.
I suggest you don heavy gloves
for this.
It could get painful otherwise.
So here we go.
Just gently scoop them right
into their little spa.
Be sure to miss the little
bubble bars there.
Just make sure you don't close
the lid so hard that
you pinch the air hoses.
That would sort of fight
the purpose here.
So 12 hours, they perc away,
then you turn off the pump
and you open up the plug,
let the water drain into
the sink,
plug up, re‐fill with water,
turn the pump back on for
another 12 hours.
Then of course, you're gonna
want to wash your sink,
because, well, you know.
This whole process,
is it really necessary?
Okay, your crawfish will
definitely be less gritty
and yes, they may taste
a little sweeter and brighter,
but you know what, if you skip
the whole process,
that's okay by me too.
Let's get to some spices.
Although I do occasionally
steam crawfish unadorned,
when it comes to a boil,
well, it just wouldn't be a boil
without boil seasoning.
And although there are plenty
on the market,
I prefer to make my own.
Oh, bother...
Well, luckily, I keep the recipe
right on the jar.
All right, let's see.
Now it may take you a few
minutes to gather up
all your spices,
but assembly will be easy
as long as you've got
a tablespoon.
Now we'll begin with
the largest amount,
4 tablespoons of cayenne pepper.
It's a lot of heat,
but we'll need it.
Then 2 tablespoons each of
paprika and garlic powder.
Then 1 tablespoon each of
onion powder and dried thyme,
dried oregano, dried dill weed,
dried mustard.
Then we're gonna have to do
some grinding.
All right, 2 tablespoons of
whole cloves go into
your spice grinder.
It's just a coffee grinder.
Along with 1 1/2 tablespoons of
whole allspice berries.
1 tablespoon of
black peppercorns, very nice.
And 1 tablespoon also of
coriander seeds.
There you go,
now just take that for a spin
until it's a relatively
fine powder.
And dump that right into
the jar.
Last but not least,
we're going to need
six bay leaves,
and just roughly crumble those.
There you go.
And seal up,
and give everything
a good shake.
If you are serious about
your boils
you may want to double, triple,
or even quadruple the batch,
in which case, all those
tablespoons would become,
that's right,
1/4 cups by volume.
Tightly sealed in glass,
your spice mixture will
maintain full potency
for up to three months.
♪
Although, small‐scale boils
can be performed indoors,
if the guest list swells
to double digits,
and it always does,
we must move out of doors.
And that means employing
some specialized hardware.
I have here my beefy burner,
which you may remember from
our fried turkey episode.
The connections are sound,
the propane is full.
The site, free of flammables,
and yet, I still have
old trusty nearby.
Now as for the vessel,
you can stick with
your turkey frying pot,
as long as it has at least
a 40‐quart capacity.
We're also going to need
a basket
to ease extraction of
the goodies.
Now matched pot‐basket sets
come in an impressive array
of sizes,
up to about 80 quarts.
They can be found in
well‐stocked hardware stores,
and of course,
on that new‐fangled
World Wide Web thing.
Okay, now I have 5 gallons
of H2O in the pot ready to go.
So we fire the rig...
There, and just set
your carburetor so that
the flames are not yellow,
like this,
but nice and blue, like this.
That is your best‐heat,
less‐soot setting.
Now we might as well go ahead
and add 1 pound of Kosher salt
and your boil mixture.
Now that'll give time
for the flavors to open up.
If you like to make this
in big batches,
count on 3 tablespoons
per gallon of water.
The lid goes on
and we prep the software.
♪
Into to basket goes 3 pounds of
small red boiling potatoes.
If any of them are 2 inches
in diameter or bigger
you'll need to cut them in half
or they will not cook in time.
Next, eight ears of sweet corn
broken in half.
Two heads worth of garlic,
still in the skin,
but broken out of the bulb.
And if you have it,
1 pound of andouille sausage.
Actually, you could use
any garlicky sausage,
kielbasa for instance,
make sure it's cut into
1‐inch pieces
so everybody gets some.
Now this is actually kind of
a hotly debated crawfish boil
topic,
but I like it,
it's like frosting on
the crawfish cake.
Obviously, our broth
has come to a boil
so in go the groceries.
I'm gonna put the lid back on
and allow these to cook on
high heat for 10 minutes.
Now during that time,
we will drain the crawfish,
carefully remove the pump
apparati,
there we go.
And give them one last
shower and drain.
All right, it is time to go.
You know, it strikes me odd that
a country that downs
28 billion pounds of cow meat
a year
would be squeamish about
sending a few prehistoric
insects to their maker.
Now if you saw our
lobster episode,
you may remember this visual
aid, which clearly illustrates
the proximity of the lobster
and the crawfish
to the cockroach,
on the old tree of life.
It's not a very long
genetic trip.
And keep in mind, a lot of us
pay people to kill cockroaches.
Okay, end of lecture,
let's cook.
Now just dumping them in
could result in splashes.
And splashes could hurt.
So we're gonna do this by hand.
And of course, we're gonna want
some kind of protection
from all of those little claws.
There we go.
So just work in handfuls
and get them in as quickly
as possible.
There we go.
If you see any dead ones
still in there,
just make sure you get them out.
There, now lid goes back on,
and we set our timer
for three minutes
and three minutes only.
All right, three minutes is up,
but these guys are not done.
So I'm gonna turn off the gas
completely,
and set my timer for
ten more minutes.
The point here is to allow
the crawfish to gently continue
cooking,
it's also to let any sediment,
shell shards, anything like that
settle down to the bottom.
I'll be back.
Newspaper may be the traditional
serving surface for a boil,
but frankly, I don't want
my good times distracted
by bad news.
And so I just roll out
either butcher paper
or plain brown craft paper
like this.
Oh, and speaking of paper,
you're also gonna need
some of these.
This is messy business.
All right, how does one
munch a crawfish?
Well, as long as they're not
those big 8‐pounders
they've got in Tasmania,
this is how it goes.
Hold the crawfish thusly,
the thumb here and finger here.
Now push the tail gently
into the head
and twist out.
There, now this is the part
that takes a little bit
of practice.
Okay, you wanna pinch the tail
and squeeze the meat out.
The way you'd get the last bit
of toothpaste out of the tube.
Mmm.
Absolutely delicious.
But we're not through.
That's right,
we've got to "suck the head,"
as they say in the bayou.
Of course, it's not a head,
it's a thorax,
and the stuff inside it
is not actually fat,
it's a hepatopancreas,
which is...
Well, maybe you should
just taste it first, okay?
Lift, crush, and suck
all at the same time.
(slurping)
Ah!
If it doesn't make
a terribly disgusting noise,
you're not doing it right.
I've got to tell you,
that is as good as
good eats gets.
Tastes like a cross between
foie gras and butter,
which makes sense because
the organ involved is
actually...
Just trust me on this, okay?
Ooh, beer's good too.
♪
Now I realize that there are
probably a few flannel‐clad
down‐Easters,
up in Maine moaning right now
that our boil was nothing but
a pygmy lobster bake.
And you know what,
you'd be right,
only our boil's a whole lot
easier to pull off,
and not nearly as expensive,
for those of us who are not
actually lucky enough to live
in Maine.
Of course, if you have visited
Maine, especially in summertime,
you have probably experienced
the mythic marriage of
lobster and bun
known as lobster roll.
Well, guess what,
crawfish can dance
to that tune, too.
Okay, for two nice, big,
juicy crawfish rolls,
we will need 8 ounces of
cooked tail meat.
Okay, now I may prefer to buy
my bugs in tact
and handle the cooking
and harvesting duties myself,
but quality cooked tail meats
are available.
Be on your guard though.
Dirt‐cheap frozen crawfish tails
are starting to flood American
mega‐marts from Asia.
And I personally will not
eat them
for any or all of
the following reasons.
One ‐‐ the sanitation in
most of the ponds where
the crawfish are raised is
iffy at best.
And some traces of some
very bad things have shown up
in testing.
Two ‐‐ the red swamp crawfish
is not native to say, China,
and when it breaks out of
confinement,
which it does,
with determined regularity,
it wreaks havoc on
the natural ecosystem.
Third, we've got plenty
of crawfish right here
in America, kids.
Yes, they cost
a little bit more.
Yes, they're worth it.
When it comes to dressing,
I like to keep things simple.
So 3 tablespoons of
good quality mayonnaise
go into the bowl.
And by good quality
I mean homemade,
if at all possible.
To that we'll add some acid,
2 teaspoons of freshly squeezed
lemon juice.
A bit of heat, courtesy of
a pinch of cayenne.
A bit of Kosher salt,
again, just a pinch.
And about half a grind of
black pepper.
You can go more if you like.
Whisk to combine.
You want it to basically
look like kinda like
a salad dressing.
There, that looks good.
Now just fold in 8 ounces of
your crawfish tail meat.
And just make sure that
that is evenly covered.
There, now if you're a purist,
at this point you'll just wanna
walk away.
Just walk away.
But if you fancy a little
augmentation,
I would suggest perhaps
a little cut cilantro.
Or perhaps some
finely diced celery.
Or some finely sliced
green onion.
Or if you're feeling daring,
some diced ripe avocado.
Very nice indeed.
Or you could just skip it
altogether.
But you can't skip the bun.
Although plain old American
hot dogs are just fine
for this application,
I actually prefer
the New England version,
which have cut sides.
And because of that
they brown a lot better.
So just a couple of minutes,
then load up and serve.
Well, I hope we've inspired you
to break out of your current
crustacean rut,
and get into America's
other lobster ‐‐ crawfish.
They may be small,
but these flavorful
and feisty critters
are plentiful, sustainable,
and easy to handle.
Besides, who's ever heard of
sucking a lobster's head?
It's just ridiculous.
It should be noted, by the way,
that crawfish make interesting,
if not loving, aquarium pets.
Cheap, easy to care for,
and if they get just
the slightest bit out of hand,
good eats.
Come, Claude,
let's have a walk then.