Spicy Crab Salad — For the Beaumonts Who Carry the Gulf in Their Blood

Year seven begins with the crawfish and the clarity of a man who is forty-one and sleeping six hours a night and running a business and cooking for a family that is changing shape the way all families change shape: slowly, imperceptibly, until one day you look at the dinner table and count the chairs and realize the number has changed and the changing was the whole story.

Luc called from LSU on Sunday. "Dad, I made a dark roux." DARK. Not blonde, not peanut butter. Dark. Chocolate-colored, forty-five-minute, proper dark roux. In a dorm room. On a contraband hot plate. My son made a dark roux in Baton Rouge while I wasn't there to see it, and the not-seeing is the point, because the not-seeing means the teaching is complete, because teaching is what you do so that the student can do it without you. He used it for gumbo. Dorm gumbo. He served it to his roommate and three friends from Shreveport who had never eaten real gumbo. "They said it was the best thing they'd ever eaten," Luc said. Of course they did, cher. Of course they did. You're a Beaumont. The gumbo is in your blood.

First boil of the season: fifty pounds, Rémy at the helm, the neighborhood gathering. The door is open. Year seven. Come eat.

Fifty pounds of crawfish feed a neighborhood, but on the quieter nights—the ones between boils, when Luc’s voice is still ringing in my head and I’m standing in the kitchen thinking about dark roux and dorm rooms and how fast it all goes—I want something that still tastes like the Gulf without a full production. This spicy crab salad is that dish: fast, punchy, unapologetically seafood, the kind of thing Rémy can throw together while I’m on a call and it still feels like us, still feels like home. It’s not the boil, but it keeps the spirit alive between Sundays.

Spicy Crab Salad

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 10 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb lump crab meat, picked over for shells
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha (or more to taste)
• 1 teaspoon Creole or Cajun seasoning
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 stalk celery, finely diced
• 1/4 red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Crackers, lettuce cups, or toasted bread, for serving

Instructions

1. Make the dressing. In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Sriracha, Creole seasoning, and lemon juice until smooth and well combined.
2. Add the vegetables. Stir in the green onions, celery, and red bell pepper.
3. Fold in the crab. Gently fold in the lump crab meat, taking care not to break up the chunks too much. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
4. Taste and adjust. Add more Sriracha for extra heat or a squeeze of lemon for brightness. Sprinkle with fresh parsley.
5. Serve. Serve immediately on crackers, in lettuce cups, or piled onto toasted French bread. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 185 | Protein: 22g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 4g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 620mg