Crawfish Bisque

Mme. Josephine Nicaud, who has been for over forty years in Ambassador Eustis' family

Take two or three dozen crawfish, throw them in boiling water for a minute or two, clean them thoroughly. Take off the heads, empty them, and clean them and wash them, keeping the fat part of the tails. Put them on a chopping board with the fat, a little chicken or veal, a little stale bread, chop it all fine together, flavor with pepper, red or black, a laurel leaf, or put in a bouquet of aromatic herbs for a few minutes, having tied it with a thread so as to pull it out. Brown all this in a saucepan with a spoonful of lard. Stuff the crawfish heads tight with this. Put them in a saucepan to simmer with a quart of bouillon for an hour or more, until you have a good soup. Serve hot.

From page 4 of the 1904 edition.

Original page from the book