On a gorgeous March morning, we gathered in my back yard to boil crawfish.It couldn't have been more perfect. The weather was in the low 70s. The crawfish were a good size.

April is a month full of birthdays in our family, and it has become a tradition to host a casual backyard crawfish boil to celebrate. It’s so relaxing to spend time with the people we love most ...

The crawfish boil is a process that comes with practices, rituals and designated roles. Steam rises from a pile of crawfish as people dig in. The Louisiana staple is equally at home at backyard ...

Let your taste buds dictate the seasoning. McKee recommends using her boil recipe (see page 66) and modifying it to suit your tastes. When crawfish is not in season, it’s easy to substitute shrimp.

After crawfish harvest winds down in May, switch to Gulf-shrimp boils and transition to other Cajun specialties. Several fishmongers in town sell live crawfish, generally in 30- to 50-pound sacks.

Fortunately, you don't need to be down South to throw your own backyard crawfish boil. During the season, which generally runs March 1 through the end of May, it's easy to have live Louisiana ...

That up there is Chad Sour. He's from Louisiana, but he lives in Dallas, and every year he throws a crawfish boil in his backyard. Because I want to eat more crawfish off of more folding tables, I ...

Making a good run at a crawfish boil is a two-fisted effort that might even require some juggling. There's the twisting, pinching and peeling, the sorting… Where Y’Eat: At the crawfish boil, a ...

Crawfish boils are always an inherently social pursuit. You can love crawfish, you can be obsessed with them, you can post your social media pictures of all their red shell glory until your phone ...

As one might imagine, the pots required to boil them in sufficient quantities are on the big side – 100 quart or more. The same goes for the super powered burner required to get them hot enough ...

Crawfish boils can make us feel a little more human. Note: an earlier version of this column was originally posted in 2019 Email Ian McNulty at [email protected] .