Crayfish is always a fest!

Do you know what crayfish is? Of course you know. Nevertheless I bet you do not know how to eat it correctly! In the South of Russia in Rostov-on-Don we always laugh at “Moscals” ( our guests from Moscow), they eat only one part of the crayfish meanwhile people here don’t leave any part of the delicacy to a trash-bin.

Rostovites believe that their “Crayfishe from the river Don” are the best, and no overseas oysters can compare with them.

One can eat crayfish in a restaurant, but only in the “right” places ones know well and order in advance ( because it’s not right to eat crayfishes just boiled, they should stand for some time in order to become softer and juicy).

Other people know “special” telephone numbers or have their own crayfish-dealer, with whom they can buy a hundred already boiled.

Yes, we buy them by the hundred, depending on the number of people who are going to eat. Usually 4 people can make not less then one hundred to disappear with beer.

When someone invites you “to crayfish”, usually on Sunday,  you understand that you are going to drink beer sitting around the table, probably in the courtyard, nothing more, just laughing ant talking for several hours. No white clothes, no manicure. We eat crayfish only with our hands, no cutlery!

So the most popular way of eating crayfish is to go to a market, buy a hundred or two of them alive and to invite friends. It is a great process of doing something together. And also it is a good way to make fun of those, who are not from the South.

First boil all the crayfishes, but leave one till the moment you serve the dish on the table. Scald it with boiling water ( it becomes red and stops moving)  and put it on the very top of the dish.  Now politely suggest that the first and the best and the biggest crayfish goes to a dear guest. See the reaction of your friend when he takes “ready and red” crayfish who will begin to move in their hands.

In every southern family they have their own recipe for preparing this “fest delicacy”, but the main rule is always the same – the easier the better. Huge saucepan, water, salt and dry dill are the best friends ever. The real magic is in the skill.

My parents were born in the South, but moved to the North of Russia about 30 years ago. Every summer they come back here for holidays. Inviting friends for a hearty beer and crayfish gathering is a good long-term tradition. They newer leave The South without fulfilling this yummy rule.