This week I talked to fisherman and oystermen in Louisiana's Bayou Country about the current state of seafood. The short answer: there was no consensus. While the oil spill caused serious environmental damage, the greater challenge is combating the negative press about Gulf seafood. Here's what they had to say. More

August just came and passed. In Sweden, August means end of vacations (the minimum four week ones that almost everyone takes), darker nights and....kräftskiva, or crayfish parties. This is more than a meal. This is more than a party. It's an important tradition signifying the start of crayfish season. And it's fun. More

I ate some fantastic crawfish over Easter weekend. Crawfish boils are a Easter tradition in Louisiana, and that makes sense, since the season typically begins in March and ends in June. As a New Orleans resident and the author of Eating New Orleans, Pableaux Johnson is an expert on such matters. Here, he aptly describes the tradition: ... [A] backyard crawfish boil—a traditional Easter event throughout Louisiana—is an epic affair involving 40-pound sacks of wriggling crawfish and bubbling cauldrons big enough to be stirred with canoe paddles. Unlike a New England lobster boil, where ingredients fit into a single grocery sack, Louisiana crawfish boils require planning and a pickup truck, used to transport a makeshift outdoor kitchen. Read the rest... More