Few People Know The Real Reason Behind Breaux Bridge Becoming The Crawfish Capital Of The World
By Jackie Ann|Published February 26, 2024
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Jackie Ann
Author
Louisiana native and LSU Alum (Geaux Tigers!), Jackie has lived in Louisiana for over three decades and currently lives in New Orleans. She's been writing for OnlyInYourState since 2016 and can often be found with a coffee at her side, dreaming of her next adventure.
Early spring marks the beginning of a very specific season for Louisiana: crawfish season. Crawfish season is my favorite time of year. Since Louisiana is the largest harvester of crawfish in the country, we don’t have to go far to get a pound or two. While we all wait for crawfish prices to come down, let’s take a minute to learn how Breaux Bridge became the Crawfish Capital of the World.
Crawfish have been harvested in south-central Louisiana for centuries.
Long before French and Spanish settlers and even before Cajuns, Native Americans would catch mudbugs and were a fairly regular staple in their diet. The Houma Tribe specifically was one Tribe who respected the crawfish so much so that the tribe was named after them. They respected the fight in a crawfish. Anyone who’s ever picked up a live crawfish knows that these feisty little guys will throw up their claws and fight even when the odds are stacked up against them. The Houma Tribe embraced the crawfish as a source of food and a mascot of sorts.
While Louisiana is the largest producer of crawfish in the world, St. Martin Parish really takes home the gold when it comes to the crawfish industry.
The parish produces the most crawfish in Louisiana, closely followed by the other seven parishes in Acadiana. Since crawfish thrive in marshy, swampy environments, the Atchafalaya Basin is just paradise to them. Of all the towns in Acadiana, Breaux Bridge has earned the title of being the Crawfish Capital of the World.
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It wasn’t until the early 1920s that the wife of Mr. Charles Hebert, a Breaux Bridge local, had the idea to put crawfish on a menu. It was the first time crawfish had appeared on a menu.
Similar to how po’boys were seen has food for the poor, so were crawfish. They were seen as a good source of protein and they were in abundance, which worked out well for poor Cajuns living in the area.
Crawfish étouffée wouldn’t make its debut until the 1950s, and these mudbugs weren’t the hot item they were today... so they needed some time to gain popularity.
It’s believed that Cajun settlers modified lobster recipes, substituting crawfish for their bigger cousin. It didn’t take long for those recipes to reach larger cities like New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and then things really kicked into high gear.
Louisiana Legislation officially declared Breaux Bridge as the “Crawfish Capital of the World” in 1959.
With the mugbug’s newfound success, Breaux Bridge decided to hold the now-famous Crawfish Festival. The first festival kicked off in 1960 and has since become the largest food festival in Louisiana. The crawfish festival is held every year in May and draws thousands of visitors.
Not only are they a cornerstone of Louisiana cuisine, but they're loved by just about everyone and everything in Louisiana.
Egrets in particular love to snack on them. Can you blame them?
It’s strange to think that it was less than 100 years ago that someone had the bright idea to put crawfish on a menu, and now here we are. Crawfish went from being a dishonorable dish to one of the most popular foods in Louisiana. And all thanks to Breaux Bridge, the Crawfish Capital of the World!
If this article made you hungry, how about a Cajun food tour?
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