Deanie's Seafood Market / New Orleans, LA

I recently visited New Orleans for the first time, and I had three main things on my to-do list: visit the French Quarter, explore the swamps, and taste some cajun food. After four days of exploring, I have to admit that I had fallen in love with the city and its culture. I have plenty of stories to share from this trip, but I'll start with my favorite --- the food.

I should preface this post by stating up front that I'm not a fan of spicy food. That being said, you'll notice that my to-do list including "tasting" the cajun food, but surprisingly enough that first taste turned into several full meals of some traditional New Orleans favorites. 

My journey to discover the taste of cajun food began at Deanie's Seafood, a local seafood market in the Bucktown neighborhood that opened its doors over 40 years ago. 

As luck would have it, my trip to New Orleans coincided with the beginning of crawfish season.

Crawfish.

Crayfish.

Crawdads.

Mini lobster. 

Whatever you call them, these small freshwater crustaceans play an important part in traditional New Orleans cooking, and the locals are excited that the season had begun early. Peak season for crawfish is typically early March through mid-June, but thanks to the warmer weather that stuck around this winter, crawfish were already being caught and delivered to local markets and restaurants in New Orleans.

When I arrived at the seafood market, Karen Hales (Deanie's Public Relations Director) met me at the door and proceeded to lead me on my own personal behind-the-scenes tour of how crawfish are prepared and boiled at Deanie's Seafood Market and Restaurant. 

"We go through about 30,000 lbs of crawfish a year," Karen explained, leading me through the hustle and bustle of the main kitchen area and outside to an open-air facility where the crawfish were going through the purging process on a conveyor belt. Hundreds at a time, the live crawfish were rinsed with water and salt to clean off any mud and purge their digestive system before sliding into a bucket that would deliver them to the next step in the boiling process. At this time, the crawfish shells were a mix of gray and black with red-color on the claws. 

Next, the crawfish were carried in buckets to the boiling room, where they were dumped into a large stock pot filled with boiling water and seasonings. The stock pot was covered with a lid to hold in the heat and seasoning as the crawfish boiled, removing the lid every 5-10 minutes to stir and add seasoning. 

After around 30 minutes of cooking, a large bucket of ice was dumped into the stock pot to stop the boiling process. Minutes later, the crawfish were scooped out in nets and placed into baskets. The color of the crawfish shells was now a bold, brilliant red.

"We can have a taste and try one if you'd like," Karen explained, pulling a boiled crawfish from the basket. Completely unfamiliar with eating them and fascinated with the whole process, I watched in awe as she went through the process of peeling the shell and eating the white meat inside. 

She could tell from the look on my face that this was all new to me, so she offered to teach me the process. "It's called peel and eat," she smiled. 

Hold the crawfish on both sides of the tail and remove the head with a twist and a pull. 

Sucking the head is optional, but yummy, according to Karen.

Use your thumbs to peel the beginning of the shell to create more of an opening to remove the crawfish meat. 

Then use your thumb to push the meat up from the bottom of the tail, grip the meat with your teeth and tug. You're using your thumb to push the meat out just like you would do when you're rolling toothpaste out of the tube, she explained. 

A few minutes later, after a few attempts, I was successfully eating boiled crawfish. And not only was I eating it, I was enjoying it. The taste was delicious and surprisingly not as spicy as I was imagining. "On the spice scale, our crawfish are on the mild side," Karen reassured me. "If someone wants more heat, they can add a hot sauce to make it hotter." 

It was a lot of work for only a little meat, but the taste was incredible. 

A large helping of the boiled crawfish were placed on a dish with some boiled corn, potatoes and andouille sausage, and I was served my first Crawfish Boil. 

However, this was only the beginning of my introduction to New Orleans cuisine. 

Next on the menu was an appetizer of New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp, which featured large head-on shrimp sautéed in their signature blend of seasonings with a French baguette for dipping. The shrimp were tender and juicy, but I have to admit that my favorite part of this appetizer was dipping the bread in all of the delicious seasoning. 

My appetizer was followed by a bowl of traditional Seafood Gumbo garnished with a crab claw. 

Although The New York Times recently published an article that traditional seafood gumbo was no longer found in New Orleans, Deanie's Seafood is one place that you can still find it. 

This Cajun staple starts out with a roux, which is a flour and butter mixture that forms the basis of the gumbo. Then the "Cajun holy trinity" is added --- chopped onion, celery and green pepper. Deanie's adds in their own special Cajun seasoning along with garlic, seafood broth and tabasco. The gumbo also includes shrimp, crab and finally okra, from which it gets its name. 

The gumbo had an amazing flavor to it, and once again, surprisingly not spicy like I was imagining. 

My taste of New Orleans at Deanie's Seafood concluded with a dozen "Oysters on the Half Shell" served raw with cocktail sauce. 

I gave Karen my shocked expression and explained that I had never tasted raw oysters and wasn't sure I could get one down. "Of course you can," she assured me. "Just put it up to your mouth and slurp." 

Once again, I followed her instructions, dabbed some cocktail sauce on top and slurped it down. Sure enough, the raw oyster was delicious and I helped myself to several more. 

Deanie's is known for serving fresh, locally sourced Louisiana seafood from the Gulf of Mexico, local bayous, and Lake Pontchartain. All of their recipes are housemade, from the cocktail and tartar sauce to salad dressing to the seasoning mix for the Crawfish Boil. It's something they pride themselves on. And that's not all they're proud of. In 2018, Deanie's Seafood Restaurants were recognized with three top honors in New Orleans Where Y'at Magazine, including ranking #1 as Best Seafood Restaurant in New Orleans. 

If you're headed down to New Orleans, I would highly recommend stopping in for lunch or dinner at Deanie's Seafood, because they definitely know how to cook some amazing Louisiana seafood. Be sure to tell them Eric sent you!

You can visit them at one of these three locations:
Deanie's Seafood Bucktown / 1713 Lake Avenue, Metairie, LA.
Deanie's Seafood French Quarter / 841 Iberville Street, New Orleans, LA.
Deanie's Seafood Kitchen / 2200 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA.