A seafood boil is a popular dish in the American South, where various types of seafood are simmered together in a large pot with spices, vegetables, and sausage. It is often served at large community gatherings and eaten off newspaper-covered tables without plates. Fish bubbles are limited to shelled seafood.
A seafood boil is one of two related things: a seafood platter or a feast where such a dish is to be served. When used to describe cooking, seafood boiling is pretty much what it sounds like: various types of seafood, typically crab, lobster, shrimp, and oysters, are simmered together in a large pot until cooked through. Families and groups often host fish bubbles, which are large gatherings where everyone eats from a common fish pot or pans. Fish bubbles are believed to have originated in the American South and remain most popular in that region.
In general, fish bubbles are very easy to make. There is no set recipe and cooks often add their own twists. A very simple seafood boil is little more than seafood, water, and spices. Seafood is typically cooked whole and often alive: crabs, shrimp and lobsters may be added to the pot to boil the seafood as soon as it is caught. Some cooks like to rinse them first, but others appreciate the fresh-caught salts and flavors.
Along the Louisiana coast and throughout the lowland region from Georgia to South Carolina, fresh seafood is usually very plentiful. Shrimp boats return regularly with huge catches, shellfish are plentiful and shrimp are easily caught in simple coastal traps. In season, the key ingredients needed to boil seafood are some of the cheapest foods available. It is perhaps for this reason that the seafood boil is a staple of both Louisiana Cajun cooking and country cooking.
Fish are some of the only seafood that is not commonly added to fish bubbles. Fish bubbles are limited to shelled seafood. A boil or fish fry is a separate type of event.
More often than not, cooks heavily season boiling water based on individual tastes. The seasoning is generally peppery, often featuring cayenne, and aromatic, usually with many herbs. Cooks may also add hot sausage and vegetables – usually sweet corn and red potatoes – to the water as it boils. This adds flavor to the seafood and produces flavorful, seasoned vegetables.
Small fish bubbles can be made for family dinners, but more often bubbles are made as part of large community gatherings, such as a potluck or barbecue. Especially during the height of seafood season, neighborhoods, church groups, and school communities in the American South come together to host major seafood boiling events. Fish bubbles can be kept in closed streets, in car parks or in public parks, as well as being kept indoors.
The most traditional way of serving seafood simmer food is to cover the tables in newspaper, then simply strain and pour the included seafood and vegetables directly onto the table. Participants usually don’t use the plates, most often they eat the seafood right off the table. Some people use crackers, but others simply crack the fish open with their hands.
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