Thursday, January 6, 2011

CRAWFISH COUNTRY

SUGARCANE
Highway 14, skitters through dozens of small, sugarcane and craw fish towns from New Iberia, LA. to Lake Charles, LA.  Sometimes bumpy, other times REAL bumpy, it runs along, 30 miles north of the Gulf where much of the area was heavily damaged in 2005 when Hurricane Rita roared ashore.



CRAWFISH POTS BAITED WITH FRESH FISH PELLETS

The fields are flooded, "seeded" with baby crawfish and then harvested at maturity.


"Pulling" the crawfish pots at harvest.  Just one person in this flat-bottom "crawfish boat" that is pushed along slowly by a specially designed wheel at the stern.  He lifts and empties one pot replacing it with another freshly baited pot all in continuous slow motion, never stopping the boat.  With about 25 pots per acre, the yield is expected to be a 1000 pounds in a season.

BLUE ROADS BILLBOARD
Hank Williams, an American country singer sang, “Jambalaya, crawfish pie, filet gumbo”  It rightly describes the culinary delights of Cajuns. 


After eating our way through the day, boudin (rice and pork sausage), crawfish and soft shelled crab, we found a great place to let all that food digest..Sam Houston Jones State Park, just north of Lake Charles.  The park is carved out of a cypress swamp with signs warning, "Don't Feed The Alligators."  OK, I promise, I'll refrain.

No comments: