Don't Toss This Part Of The Crawfish — It Tastes A Lot Better Than It Looks

Crawfish boils are a signature down South, complete with sticky tables, bundles of napkins, and hands stained permanently orange. Weekends revolve around it. And if you're new to the tradition and crawfish in general, there's one mistake that almost everyone makes at first: they eat the tail, then stop. You see, the prize isn't the meat you can squeeze out of the shell. It's the soft, yellow "paste" that you'll find in the head cavity of the crustacean.

It may look like fat, but it isn't. Called tomalley, it's the crawfish's hepatopancreas — basically a combo liver and pancreas. Crabs and lobsters have it too, and in those cousins, this soft substance is celebrated as a delicacy. Savory, almost buttery, and intensely flavorful (thanks to all those spices soaking into it during the boil), tomalley is aptly nicknamed: "crawfish butter." Enthusiasts swear by extracting and enjoying every ounce they can get out of each one — the technique, fortunately, is simple!

Twist off the tail and eat it as you normally would. Then comes the fun part: bring the head up to your mouth and suck out the contents. Don't sharply inhale, do it slowly (too fast and you'll end up choking when crawfish juice shoots down your throat — some of us have learnt that the hard way). The crawfish juice will be mixed with a teeny bit of tomalley, creating something that tastes like the ocean met a spice cabinet.

Too intense for that to be your first tomalley-tasting experience? No problem. Scoop the soft, buttery tomalley straight from the shell, and you can either eat it as it is or spread it on toast or crackers. Alternatively, you can also save it for later and use in cooking. Try and fold some into your pasta sauce and suddenly you've got a luxurious seafood base that coats every strand like it was made in a restaurant kitchen. Stir it into rice dishes, into a rich and creamy lobster bisque — anywhere you want depth without adding more stock or salt or effort.

That odd-looking yellow paste suddenly seems like liquid gold. And it is — the flavor and versatility speak for themselves. What seemed disposable might just become the ingredient you start planning recipes around.