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Where to eat Sacramento Delta Crawfish Boil in Sacramento

Spring and early-summer crawfish boil from the Sacramento River Delta, the freshwater crawfish capital of California. Peak season is Father's Day weekend.

The story of Sacramento Delta Crawfish Boil

The Sacramento River Delta has been one of the largest US sources of freshwater crawfish since the early 1900s, when Louisiana growers imported the red swamp crawfish to Delta ponds. By the 1980s the Isleton Crawdad Festival had become the Father's Day fixture across the Delta, with boils on Main Street pulling thousands of visitors. The boil is the same as the Louisiana home version, with crawfish, corn, potatoes, sausage and lots of cayenne and Old Bay, but the catch is from California growers and the season runs March to October with a Father's Day peak.

How to make Sacramento Delta Crawfish Boil

Serves: 6

Ingredients

  • 2.5kg live freshwater crawfish
  • 6 small new potatoes, halved
  • 3 ears of sweet corn, halved
  • 500g smoked andouille or kielbasa sausage, sliced 5cm
  • 2 lemons, halved
  • 1 head garlic, halved horizontally
  • 1 large onion, halved
  • 100g Old Bay seasoning
  • 2 tbsp cayenne
  • 2 tbsp salt
  • Optional: 2 bay leaves, 1 tbsp black peppercorns

Method

  1. Rinse the live crawfish in cold water several times until the water runs clear. Discard any dead crawfish.
  2. Fill a 30L pot with water, leaving 10cm headroom. Add Old Bay, cayenne, salt, bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic, onion and lemons. Bring to a rolling boil.
  3. Add potatoes and sausage. Boil 10 minutes.
  4. Add corn. Boil another 5 minutes.
  5. Add crawfish. Stir well. Cover and boil 5 minutes, then turn off the heat.
  6. Let the crawfish steep covered for 15 minutes. Drain the pot onto a newspaper-lined table and serve hot with cold beer.

Editor tip. The crawfish keep cooking off the heat. If they overcook the meat goes mealy. Test at minute 12 of the steep and pull them when the tails just curl.

The editor picks for Sacramento Delta Crawfish Boil in Sacramento are still in research. Meanwhile, see the Sacramento signature-dishes index or the Sacramento food guide.