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Crawfish Bisque

Source of Recipe

From "Jubilee" by Toni Tipton-Martin


Recipe Introduction

"Order crawfish bisque in a restaurant, and what you really get is crawfish soup. African American cooks have been making this dish, under both these names—and others, fancy-sounding or not—for a long, long time. 'Bisque' means 'thick soup' in French, usually made rich by the addition of cream. Over the years, our cooks used the term to refer to cream soup or 'cream of' soup, and they relied on various techniques to give the soup body—from egg yolks to a simple white sauce to the classic French mixture beurre manié. (Beurre manié translates to rubbed or kneaded butter. The practice requires a light twist of the fingers—imagine you're snapping your fingers to knead together little cubes of butter with flour, which you can stir into a soup or sauce at the end of the cooking time to add body.) In 1932, a white author named Mary Moore Bremer featured 'potage d'ecrevisses (crayfish soup) in her collection of 'proven recipes of New Orleans' most favored dishes.' A black cook in a bandana graced the cover of the spiral-bound collection. Inside, Bremer explained that the cooking of the region owed its allure to the flavors of France, Spain, and Italy, and to the fact that 'the negro woman, who reigned in the kitchen, had inherited from her ancestors in Africa, as well as in America, a knowledge of herbs that made her skill look like magic.' The essence of that kitchen prowess isn't wizardry; it is more likely a lifetime of hard work, skills learned, and usage of the 'holy trinity,' a mix of pungent onion, bright green bell pepper, and crisp celery. This recipe is an adaptation of Leah Chase's springtime crawfish soup from The Dooky Chase Cookbook."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter
â—¦ 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
â—¦ ¼ cup chopped onion
â—¦ â…“ cup chopped celery
â—¦ â…“ cup chopped green bell pepper
â—¦ 1 teaspoon minced garlic
â—¦ 1 tablespoon paprika
â—¦ 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
â—¦ 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
â—¦ 3 cups fish stock (recipe follows)
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
â—¦ 1 bay leaf
â—¦ 1 pound cooked crawfish tails
â—¦ 1 cup half-and-half
â—¦ 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley


Recipe

In a large Dutch oven or heavy soup pot, heat the butter and flour over medium heat. Cook, stirring, about 5 minutes to make a light blonde roux.

Stir in the onion, celery, and bell pepper and cook until the vegetables are starting to soften, about 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the paprika, salt, and cayenne. Add the fish stock, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the soup has thickened.

Remove the soup from the heat. Remove and discard the bay leaf and purée the soup in batches in a blender. Return the soup to the pot. Add the crawfish tails and half-and-half and simmer for 15 minutes to marry the flavors. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt if desired. Garnish with parsley.

Serves 4




Fish Stock:

Boiled fish heads, bones, or shrimp shells (or a combination) are the basis of this rich cooking stock, but do not use the heads of fatty fish that have strong tastes of their own, like salmon. Among the many pictures Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor painted of her Lowcountry upbringing in Vibration Cooking: Or the Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl was one of an "epicurean delight"—a stew her mother made by long-simmering onions and green pepper with fish heads she bought for five cents a pound. The brew, known as fish head stew, was served over grits.

â—¦ 5 pounds fish heads, bones, and/or shrimp shells
â—¦ 2 cups large chunks celery, including leaves
â—¦ 2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
â—¦ 2 bay leaves
â—¦ 1 sprig parsley
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon whole black peppercorns

In a large heavy saucepan, combine 4 quarts water, the bones, celery, and onions. Add the bay leaves, parsley, and peppercorns.

Bring to a boil over medium-low heat (it will take a while, but gentle heat is what keeps this stock clear and fresh tasting), then reduce the heat to low and gently simmer, uncovered, one to two hours, skimming off any foam that rises to the top of the pot. The broth develops stronger flavor the longer you let it simmer.

Strain the broth through a colander to remove the bones and vegetables. Then strain it again through a fine-mesh sieve and discard any solids. Refrigerate the broth until fat floats to the top. Use a slotted spoon to skim fat and discard. Store tightly covered for up to 3 days in the refrigerator, or freeze.

Makes about 3 ½ quarts