- Title: New Orleans' Good Friday crawfish tradition rolls on despite coronavirus
- Date: 10th April 2020
- Summary: NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES (APRIL 10, 2020) (REUTERS) BEVI SEAFOOD CO OWNER, JUSTIN LEBLANC, STIRRING BOILING CRAWFISH WITH A PADDLE VARIOUS OF CRAWFISH IN CAULDRON VARIOUS OF EMPLOYEE BAGGING POTATOES, CORN AND SAUSAGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) BEVI SEAFOOD CO OWNER, JUSTIN LEBLANC, SAYING: "Well, it's usually our biggest day of the year. It's a tradition for everybody to have Good Friday boils at their house. Whether it's Good Friday or Easter, Holy Week is by far the busiest crawfish week of the year. This year's a little unique, obviously, because of everything going on. But we've adapted to it. We made it drive-through. We've had a way to keep everyone getting what they need, and it's actually going to wind up being probably a little more boiled crawfish this year, because less people are going to have big functions at their house today to boil themselves." VARIOUS OF EMPLOYEES DELIVERING BAGS TO WAITING CARS SIGN READING (English): 'DRIVE UP' AND LISTING PRICES FOR LIVE AND BOILED CRAWFISH CARS WAITING (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT, ANDREW KELLY, SAYING: "Traditionally you're not supposed to eat meat in a Catholic town like this one. So we fortunately have a seafood bounty that we can take advantage of in that way." (REPORTER ASKING OFF CAMERA 'And how much are you looking forward to this?') (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT, ANDREW KELLY, SAYING: "Oh, every year we have crawfish on Good Friday. Never changes." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WAITING IN LINE (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT, T.J. LIBUTTI, SAYING: "I mean, so many things are changing, and have changed, that anything that can be similar to how things used to be or we know eventually will return to is pretty great." VARIOUS OF LEBLANC SORTING THROUGH LIVE CRAWFISH (SOUNDBITE) (English) BEVI SEAFOOD CO OWNER, JUSTIN LEBLANC, SAYING: "Couldn't be more concerned. It's as rough as it an be for a lot of our colleagues. I know most of the guys who own restaurants in the city. This is wildly difficult. We're keeping afloat because the demand for crawfish is still there and it's allowed me to keep all my staff and keep everybody moving. But even as much volume as we're doing today, it's still just a fraction of what we would normally do this time of year. When you lose catering, when you lose big parties, when you lose all those things, that's the other 50% of the puzzle that allows most businesses to get through the rest of the year, including ours." VARIOUS OF FISH DELIVERYMAN UNLOADING SACKS OF LIVE CRAWFISH ON TO DECK
- Embargoed: 24th April 2020 22:32
- Keywords: Bevi's Catholic tradition Easter Good Friday Holy Week crawfish boil live
- Location: NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA001C8WT3RB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: This Good Friday, Bevi Seafood Co expects to go through about 6,000 pounds (2,721 kilograms) of crawfish, a New Orleans Holy Week staple.
"It's usually our biggest day of the year. It's a tradition for everybody to have Good Friday crawfish boils at their house," owner Justin LeBlanc told Reuters.
"This year's a little unique, obviously, because of everything going on. But we've adapted to it, we made it drive-through. We've had a way to keep everyone getting what they need."
Traditionally, residents of heavily-Catholic New Orleans gather with friends and family at crawfish boils, to feast on heaps of the crustaceans elbow-to-elbow at long narrow tables.
Louisiana's stay-at-home order in the wake of the novel coronavirus, limiting people to gatherings of fewer than 10 people, has curtailed the tradition.
More than 19,200 people in Louisiana have tested positive for coronavirus. In the city of New Orleans 5,416 have tested positive. Statewide, 755 people have died from COVID-19.
On Friday (April 10) at Bevi and other seafood restaurants around the city, long lines of masked people in cars and on foot waited for bags of the steaming seafood, spicy boiled corn and potatoes or sacks of live crawfish to bring home and boil themselves.
"Traditionally you're not supposed to eat meat in a Catholic town like this one, so we fortunately have a seafood bounty that we can take advantage of in that way," said Andrew Kelly who was waiting in a line of cars with his son Eamon.
"I mean, so many things are changing, and have changed, that anything that can be similar to how things used to be or we know eventually will return to is pretty great," said T.J. Libutti.
But LeBlanc is cautious.
"This is wildly difficult. We're keeping afloat because the demand for crawfish is still there and it's allowed me to keep all my staff and keep everybody moving, but even as much volume as we're doing today, it's still just a fraction of what we would normally do this time of year. When you lose catering, when you lose big parties, when you lose all those things, that's the other 50% of the puzzle that allows most businesses to get through the rest of the year, including ours."
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