Boiled Crawfish In Lake Charles

Boiled Crawfish In Lake Charles – Ambrosia Riggins at a picnic table at Millennium Park in Lake Charles, LA. He sat, a pound each of lobster and shrimp on an open foam plastic container in front of him, looking out over the pier and the rollercoaster-like Calcasieu River. Bridge in the distance.

“I grew up with seafood,” he said. “Seafood is what Louisiana is all about.”

Boiled Crawfish In Lake Charles

Riggins had spent an hour in line at Honey Bay, his favorite lobster spot in Lake Charles, which had reopened for the season that day. He says the scorers will set him back $8.99 per pound — if you want them early, you’ll have to pay.

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The setting sun illuminates a farm with lobster traps Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022, near Crowley, Shepley Lake, Houston Chronicle/Staff Photographer

It’s late January in southwest Louisiana. This mild winter started the crab season early. Many restaurants registered their first start. But a cold front coming through that week dampened the initial buzz — crustaceans bury themselves in the mud when it’s cold — leaving operators wondering if they’ll have enough of a good crop to open that weekend. And diners dig a little deeper. Find it.

Ambrosia Riggins eats crabs at Millennium Park in Lake Charles. “As far as seafood goes, I don’t know if you beat us,” he said, comparing Louisiana and Texas. John Shapley, Houston Chronicle/Staff Photographer

Chad Posson, co-owner of BeauxDines, smiles as he talks to a reporter Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, at the restaurant in Lake Charles. John Shapley, Houston Chronicle/Staff Photographer

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(L) Ambrosia Riggins eats crabs at Millennium Park in Lake Charles. “As far as seafood goes, I don’t know if you beat us,” he said, comparing Louisiana and Texas. (R) Chad Poisson, co-owner of BeauxDines, smiles as he talks to a reporter Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, at the restaurant in Lake Charles. / Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer (L) Ambrosia Riggins eats lobster at Millennium Park in Lake Charles. “As far as seafood goes, I don’t know if you beat us,” he said, comparing Louisiana and Texas. (R) Chad Poisson, co-owner of BeauxDines, smiles as he talks to a reporter Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, at the restaurant in Lake Charles. / John Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Around lunchtime at BeauxDines, owners Todd Armento and Chad Posen were waiting for a late lobster to arrive. When it finally arrived, they received 19 sacks and a “one piece” – a sack that is not full. During peak season on All-You-Can-Eat Tuesdays, they can go through 140 sacks in just a few hours. The delivery man was heading to the Seafood Palace on the east side of the next town. “Is his piece bigger than mine?” Poisson jokingly shouted after him as he left.

C. There are definitely people who want that “first rush,” said Edward Wilkerson Jr., owner of Crawfish Time Louisiana in Lafayette. He tries to strike a balance between serving the lobster as quickly as possible, but maintaining the size and quality of what he serves. Normally, people understand if he has to keep it off the menu when the catch is not up to standards. The legendary Hawk’s Restaurant near Rayne doesn’t open until February at all.

The sun sets over a lobster farm Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, near Rayne, La. Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle/Staff Photographer

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Everyone is waiting for what Wilkerson calls the “aha season” — when the lobster is so great and plentiful, the harvest is like cruise control. This is the best time to go crabbing. By March, Houstonians should plan a weekend trip to southwest Louisiana.

When you ask locals if they remember the first time they ate or cooked lobster, you’re likely to get a blank stare. Crawfish is so ingrained in Cajun and Creole culture that Southwest Louisianans have been boiling them in their backyards their entire lives. In the 1950s, restaurants began offering crawfish boils in a diner, further integrating them into the fabric of the community.

Crawfish and corn, photographed Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, at Crazy ‘Bout Crawfish in Breaux Bridge, La. Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer

In 1957, Red Richard opened Richard’s Seafood Patio in Abbeville—pronounced Ray-town, of course—which morphed from a live seafood market to a restaurant serving crawfish boil. His son, Calvin Richard, and daughter-in-law, Roxanne Gilton, took over in 1983.

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Tony Trahan, left, and Larry Conway, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, order lobster at Richard’s Seafood Patio in Abbeville, La. Conway said he was a seasonal worker at the restaurant and spent half the year on fishing boats. John Shapley, Houston Chronicle/Staff Photographer

Derrick Richard grew up cooking lobster at Richard’s Seafood Patio in Abbeville. John Shapley, Houston Chronicle/Staff Photographer

Larry Conway boils lobster at Richard’s Seafood Patio in Abbeville, La. He works half the year in a restaurant and the other half on a fishing boat. John Shapley, Houston Chronicle/Staff Photographer

Tricia Melancon, center, blows out the candles to celebrate her 50th birthday with colleagues at Richard’s Seafood Patio in Abbeville, La. Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle/Staff Photographer Celebrate.

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Richard’s Seafood Patio in Abbeville, LA. / John Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer at Richard’s Seafood Patio in Abbeville, LA. / John Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

At 6 p.m. On a cold, wet Thursday, the area around Richard’s is quiet and dark, the narrow country roads and the entrance to the restaurant’s makeshift parking lot recognizable only by headlights. Inside, it is full of light and life.

At one table, a server explained how to peel and eat lobster to an Israeli couple on an RV road trip. They stayed in the area for two nights before heading to Houston. Jason Sellers and Mauricio Herrera were hunched over large metal trays, hungry from their duck hunting trip. Sellers, who is from Abbeville, wanted to show off one of his old favorites when his colleague from the Houston area was in town. Herrera said the lobster here was better than anything he had at home.

Jason Sellers after serving at Richard’s Seafood Patio in Abbeville, LA on Thursday, January 20, 2022. Houston Chronicle/Staff Photographer Jon Shapley eats lobster while duck hunting with his friend.

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In the kitchen, toward the end of the service, the staff sang happy birthday to one of the waiters, who bent down to blow out the candles on his cake and balance a tray full of empty lobster shells that he carried on the bus.

On the other side of town, the same sense of community is found at Cajun Claws. The restaurant’s walls are lined with white trays decorated and written on the walls by regulars, celebrities like former NFL quarterback Drew Brees, and other lucky patrons.

Donny Choate smiles as he boils lobster.

Decorated trays line the walls on Friday, January 21, 2022, at Cajun Claws in Abbeville, La. Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle/Staff Photographer.

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Guests at Cajun Claws in Abbeville, La. Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle/Staff Photographer, laughs with lobster and drinks.

Cajun Claws in Abbeville, La. / Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Cajun Claws in Abbeville, La. / Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

In the back, owner Donni Choate has operated the same station since Cajun Claws opened in 1996. Two chain hooks attached to an overhead conveyor belt float above six large metal pots. On a recent Friday night, she waltzed from one end to the other, hooking pots and pulling them up to check for readiness, in a seemingly effortless dance.

Choate boils the lobster in plain water. It says that salt draws out moisture. Then, he soaks them in the spice at a different temperature, about 180 degrees – not too hot, not too cold, or it won’t work. The key to the process, he explains, is finely chopped bell pepper skins that go to the bottom and add flavor without getting in the way of the lobster.

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After they put the boiled crab on a tray, they sprinkle it with a dry seasoning made by your father-in-law, Choate, with half of Tony Chacheri’s salt, because he has a heart condition.

The sun sets over a field of lobster traps near Crowley, Lajon Shipley, Houston Chronicle/Staff Photographer

There are almost as many variations on crawfish boils as there are Cajun restaurants in southwest Louisiana. At Richard’s, the crew boils in decades-old cast iron pots, just as Red Richard did in the 1950s. The restaurant also has the best variety of condiments on the table, including Uncle Easy’s Tio Bueno Chipotle Sauce and Pippi’s Purpose All-Purpose Seasoning, a local Abbeville business, as well as the more common Tabasco, Worcestershire and Cajun Power sauces.

At K-B’s Boiling Shack in Breaux Bridge, Amy and Kenneth Breaux incl

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