Seems our fair city is in the throes of something of a Cajun invasion, what with all these crawfish boils showing up on our social calendar. Today we got wind of not one, but two epic-sounding New Orleans-style feasts in the near future, and we are in the midst of preparing our finest Spandex-waisted ensembles for them. But what in good heavens is a crawfish boil? It's simple, really: take a giant pile of crawfish, some garlic and onions, potatoes, corn, and a hunk of sausage (if you're lucky) and throw 'em all in a pot together til they're boiled up real nice. Then eat it with your hands! (And don't forget to suck the heads of the little crawdaddies, that's where all the juice is.)
Your first opportunity to indulge in this glorious event comes this weekend, when performance art-loving couple Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw roll to the Lower East Side on Saturday in their custom-made, hyper-patriotic Fish Fry & Crawfish Boil truck, complete with a hydraulic fold-out picnic table in the back. They'll be parked outside of 179 East Broadway, doling out crawfish and fried fish sandwiches, plus fried pickles and probably a healthy dose of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Follow the duo on Twitter for updates on their future whereabouts and events.
Should you like your boils a bit more altruistic, check out Crawfish NY's 6th annual fundraiser next weekend at Solar One, Crawfish Boil For A Song. Husband-and-wife team Lizzie and Chris Bicknell (he's a New Orleans native) are flying in over a 2,600 pounds of live crawfish over the course of the weekend, then cooking them up with the aforementioned accoutrements and serving it all alongside Six Point beer and Louisiana-style hurricanes. And the proceeds benefit the music education nonprofit Kids Need A Melody. Check their website for information on where to buy tickets ($100).
