With Mardi Gras gone and the Lenten season here, a crawfish boil with friends and family are a weekend get-together must. Every weekend during the season, you can smell the spicy delight of crawfish boils in neighborhoods throughout New Orleans and the soft wafting of music and laughter because any time New Orleanians come together for food it becomes a celebration. 

It's really an art form with everyone having their way of making the perfect crawfish boil.  The very sight of a large pot using a wire basket fitted inside sitting over a high heat creates a debate. Generally speaking, you heat the water, crab boil, salt, cayenne pepper to a boil then add all those wonderful things that makes the boil so special like potatoes, onions, sausage, whole garlic, corn, mushrooms, lemons and, of course, crawfish.

Once boiled the wire basket is pulled out and the crustaceans are ceremoniously dumped and spread from one end to the other of the newspaper-covered table. This helps stop the cooking process.  Everyone immediately gathers round to eat together pulling the delicious meat from the shells and taking bites of perfectly cooked vegetables while the piles of shells grow. It is a wonderful sense of community round the long table and a special time for good food and conversation.