As Lent begins for observant Catholics in the New Orleans area, crawfish season is picking up.
If you are looking for mudbugs? Louisiana Agriculture commissioner Mike Strain has the prices:
"You can get live crawfish between $4.50, $5 a pound," said Strain. "Boiled crawfish, you know, between $5.50, to $5.75."
And a quick scan of the Internet could find you even lower prices, as Strain says a good season is expected.
"And I can tell you they're plentiful, and they're very, very nice. You know we had that little bit of cold weather, but right now it's warming up, and we'll be catching a lot of crawfish."
Strain points out that it's not just crawfish Louisiana is making for your seafood boil. He says the corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, mushrooms and even the sausage can all come from local producers.
Of course, that's not all Louisiana has to offer.
"Big-time is catfish, of course," Strain reminds us. And he says you can always combo that catfish with a crustacean or two.
"You cook that catfish down and you put some crawfish or shrimp etouffée, now is the time for shrimp."
Strain says crawfish season might come to an end a little earlier this year, owing to a cold snap earlier in the winter.
"Those freezes," he explained, "what it does is causes the vegetation in the rice fields that they feed on to break down a little faster."