Dishes · A classic of Creole and Cajun · Breaux Bridge and the Atchafalaya basin, by most accounts
Crawfish étouffée
Also Etouffee, Shrimp étouffée
Crawfish tails smothered in butter, the holy trinity and a little stock, into a thick, rich sauce over rice.
What makes it crawfish étouffée
Crawfish tails, and their fat.
Butter and a light roux — blond, not dark.
The trinity, cooked soft; over rice.
Where it comes from
It's usually said to have been first served in restaurants around Breaux Bridge in the middle of the twentieth century, when farmed crawfish became plentiful. Étouffée means smothered, and the tails cook only briefly in a sauce made first.
The yellow fat from the crawfish heads is prized for colour and flavour; frozen tails from the shop often come with some of it packed in.