Crack 'em. Peel 'em suck 'em. That's how you eat crawfish, according to the Owner of Chez Francois Seafood, Andre Leger.
It's the day after Mardi Gras and while many people begin to fast certain foods for Lent, Andre said his customers are coming in for more seafood.
Andre said crawfish and shrimp are his top-selling items and he has been successful for the last 47 years.
"We're mostly in the seafood business," Andre said. "We do some meats, but our main deal is the seafood business. So, during Lent, there are a lot of people that don't eat meat, so we're extremely busy with seafood."
Customers come to Chez Francois Seafood for just about everything in the shellfish department— Crawfish, shrimp, crabmeat, etc.
Andre said his family-owned business is open seven days per week and he has a team of employees dedicated to preparing crawfish.
"A lady can peel right around a sack an hour," Andre said. "So, in an eight-hour day, a lady is peeling between six to eight sacks a day...About 40 pounds of meat a day."
His son, 17-year-old Britton Leger has been working for the family business for more than two years. Britton said his daily responsibilities usually involve crawfish.
"I work at the crawfish ponds and come over here and work the cash register or go in the back and grade crawfish," Britton said.
Britton said working for his family has its pros and its cons, but he enjoys eating fried shrimp.
"I get tired of crawfish sometimes because we work with it all day," Britton said. "I mean, [but] it's a good part of our culture."
