Not only is it just plain cold, we can’t even warm ourselves up with a big platter of freshly boiled crawfish!
This winter has been one of the coldest that southern Louisiana has seen in several decades. Which means that it will be one of the latest crawfish seasons that most of us can remember. Many of the ponds are actually iced over—not a common sight in south Louisiana!
Check out this video of our crawfish supplier out at their ponds in Louisiana—those are sheets of ice on the water.
Cold weather keeps the crawfish burrowed down in the mud, and they will stay that way until the temperature of the pond water consistently gets above 50° (many ponds are currently at 40° or so—sheesh!). At that point they will begin moving and eating, however, most all of the crawfish are, well, babies. They are not big enough for harvesting.
And even after the water does warm up, they still need time to eat and get big enough for us. So every week that the ponds stay cold is just one more week to wait before the season gets underway.
I wish I could say, “and now the good news” but I cannot. Well maybe a little bit, perhaps…
Not only have the crawfish been slowed in their development, but the rice that feeds the crawfish (those are rice ponds that they grow up in) has been damaged as well. The food supply is not as abundant as a normal year. So supplies will be very limited (some other restaurants will not be able to get them this year at all), and prices will remain high.
So what is the good news I mildly referred to? The good news is, if crawfish is available to the market—we will have them. Our relationship with our crawfish and seafood supplier is old and strong.
Pray for snow to stay in the mountains and for sun to return to the ponds and bayous!
Our boiling pots are ready and waiting, our seasonings are fresh and spicy – we just need a little help from Mother Nature!
Cheers,
Bill