crawfish catfish

Crawfish and catfish, our new little friends from Louisiana and Mississipi. Crawfish are like small red lobsters. Indeed there is a story about the origin of the crawfish in Louisiana. The Acadians (now known as Cajun people)happily lived in Nova Scotia with their friends the lobsters. But enemies invaded their lands and the Acadians had to leave and go down South to save their lives. Their hearts sad for having to abandon their lobster friends, the Acadians went to see the Lobster King to say goodbye. The Lobster King was also very sad to have to part with his friends and when he explained the situation to all the lobsters, they all decided they could not live without their friends. So all the lobsters decided to leave Nova Scotia and travel South with the Acadians. The journey was long, dangerous and tiring. They crawled down the Mississipi river for many many days, following the Acadians. It was so tiring that the lobsters lost a lot of weight. They finally reached Louisiana, where the Acadians found themselves safe and decided to stay forever. The lobsters got there too, but by that time, after all that crawling and crawling, they had become very small. And this is how they stayed. And from then on, they were known as craw(l)fish. A lovely story, but it did not stop me from eating pounds and pounds of lovely boiled crawfish with tabasco! mmmm!!!

About catfish, I can say we tried it twice, baked, and it was delicious. Catfish has a soft, white and sweet flesh. It is also quite ugly if you happen to encounter it alive, being easily recognised by its huge whiskers. Mississippi leads the nation with about 60 percent of the total U.S. catfish acreage, followed distantly by Arkansas, Alabama, and Louisiana. And unfortunately, I don't know any moving story about catfish, except that Huck Finn fished them in the novel Tom Shawyer. Mark Twain, the author, once said "The Catfish is a Plenty Good Enough Fish For Anyone", a statement with which I totally agree!


Crawfish (cangrejo americano) y catfish (siluro), nuestros nuevos amigos de Louisiana y Mississipi, respectivamente. Crawfish no son los tipicos cangrejos de rio (como su nombre traducido del ingles parece indicar) sino que tienen toda la apariencia de pequenias langostas rojas. Hay una historia del origen de los crawfish en Louisiana. Los Acadianos (actualmente conocidos como Cajun) vivian felices en Nova Scotia con sus amigas las langostas. Pero enemigos invadieron sus territorios y los Acadianos tuvieron que emigrar al Sur para salvar sus vidas. Con los corazones apenados por tener que abandonar a sus amigas las langostas, fueron a ver al Rey Langosta para despedirse. El Rey Langosta se entristecio al recibir las noticias y lo comunico a todos sus subditos. Todas las langostas decidieron entonces que no abandonarian a sus amigos Acadianos, sino que viajarian con ellos al Sur. Fue un viaje largo y peligroso. Las langostas se arrastraron ("to crawl" en ingles)con sus cortas patitas durante millas y millas, dia tras dia por el rio Mississipi. Era tan agotador que las langostas perdieron muchisimo peso. Por fin llegaron a Louisana, donde los Acadianos creyeron que podrian vivir sin peligro. Las langostas llegaron tambien, pero a esas alturas, despues de tanto arrastrarse, se habian encogido muchisimo. Y se quedaron con ese tamanio para siempre. Y tambien desde entonces, se las conocio como craw(l)fish (pez que se arrastra) en lugar de langosta (lobster) Una bonita historia, no? Ello no me impidio hartarme de deliciosas crawfish, hervidas y con tabasco!mmmm!!!!

Sobre los catfish (siluro) dire que lo probamos dos veces, frito, y era delicioso. El catfish tiene una carne suave, blanca y dulzona. Lamentablemente es bastante feo si se le ve al natural, siendo facilmente reconocido por sus largos bigotes. El estado de Mississipi lidera la produccion de catfish con el 60% de piscifactorias, siguiendole los estados de Arkansas, Alabama y Louisiana. Lamentablemente, no tengo ninguna bonita historia que explicar sobre el catfish. Excepto que Huck Finn los pescaba en la novela Tom Shawyer. Y que Mark Twain, el autor, una vez dijo : "El Catfish es un buen pescado para cualquier persona". Una afirmacion con la que estoy totalmente de acuerdo!


The weather today:
Mostly Cloudy
18C
UV Index: 4 Low
Wind: From the Northwest at 6 mph
Dew Point: 10C
Humidity: 59%
Visibility: 6 miles
Barometer: 1,025.1 mb