You cannot imagine the double-take I experienced this morning at the supermarket of choice,(I almost got whiplash) so I'll tell you. See that picture on the left? Know what those are? Yeah cher, Crawfish (some spell it Crayfish, but what to they know?) and they were discovered in the seafood department. (click image to embiggen) They are fully cooked, and it was like I died and went to heaven.
I had to buy a minimum of 4 lbs (like that's a problem?) because the clerk said they had to be sold quickly while fresh. Besides, I know they freeze well. I bought the 4 pounds for $8.00, not in the budget but I don't care. I'll get 3 meals or more out of these and that's worth the cost. As if I needed an excuse! I was told that if these sell well, they will begin to carry the frozen variety from the same LA company in the Fall.
The other purchases were items that needed replacing or replenishment and I raced home as quickly as I could. The crawfish were packed in ice and I wanted to make sure I didn't have any disasters like last week. I separated them into 1 pound portions and put them in the freezer double-bagged and over-wrapped in foil, just to be sure.
I told my neighbors of the find, probably coming off like a squealing school girl, but I didn't care. Next thing I know Meghan is at the door holding a can of beer. Leinenkugal is the name, and she said, "well, you can't eat crawfish without beer and I thought maybe you'd like to try one of these. They are delicious in the summer and go great with boiled shrimp, so try it and tell us what you think." How thoughtful...
Now I'm not much of a beer drinker - preferring wine, gin, and whiskey - though I do occasionally enjoy a cold Blue Moon Ale with an orange wedge on hot, humid summer days. This Leinenkugal "Summer Shanty" is made with lemon and honey and sounds like an interesting combination...what a hell of a time to lose a sense of taste and smell.
Oh, I don't think I mentioned this new wrinkle in my life. For some reason (unknown to humankind) I awoke Monday morning, poured a glass of orange juice and brewed a coffee. Put lots of ice in another glass and poured the coffee in to chill. I love iced coffee on hot summer mornings. When I took a sip of the OJ I had the strangest experience. While I could tell it was sweet/tart I could not taste orange flavour. Same with the iced coffee. Made toast smeared with butter and strawberry preserves - the texture was there, but no flavour. No matter what I eat or drink, there is no flavour though I can detect hot and sweet, bitter and sharp. I'm not eating for the pleasure of it right now and I hope this is a temporary situation.
Another surprise awaited me when I went to take a shower that morning. I looked in the mirror to find a rash of pink blotches on my chest that neither hurts, itches, burns, nor stings. It isn't sensitive to the touch, either. I don't know if the two maladies are connected or coincidence. I'll give both a few more days and check in with the doctor next week if the rash persists.
In any event, the beer is refrigerated and I am praying for some hint of flavours when I eat the crawfish with that beer and fresh corn. Maybe by the weekend, please G*d!
More later.
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I hope your loss of taste is temporary. That sounds bad but you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing finer than a pile of crawfish with a super cold beer. I hope they spiced 'em up real good.
Sometimes I add a bit of liquid crab boil to potatoes when boiling them for a sense of home. Would go great with those crawfish.
Where do you find "liquid" crab boil? I have done the bag thing in small new potatoes and they turn out OK, but nothing to write home about.
ReplyDeleteI actually found crab boil bags here. Seems folks like our good taste instead of "Old Bay" - which has its place.
Thanks for visiting.
Hey! Glad you found your favorite crawfish. But you know me and seafood. Eeww.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what that is with the lost of taste. I hope it is only temporary. The rash may have something to do with this brutal heat and humidity which seems non ending this summer. I hope your taste comes back soon.
I remember catching the local northern variety of crawfish/crayfish in little streams near my house growing up. From your picture they were no where near as large as yours. In scout survival training they were noted as possible food, but, man, you'd have to eat an awful lot of them (our variety) to survive.
ReplyDeleteLem: These are small compared to what I used to net with my grandfather when I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteAnd as far as surviving on them, well, that's why there are potatoes, corn on the cob, saltines, and other goodies. Oh, and beer. Can't forget the beer
Thanks for the visit and the story.