When it comes to creative and fun community unifying events, Petaluma’s Griffo Distillery is really building up a head of steam. And speaking of hot water, Griffo invites you to their Crawfish Boil Fundraiser for Una Vida, a local nonprofit that helps feed and clothe community members in need. The event is from 3 to 6 pm, Saturday, May 23, at the distillery, 1320 Scott St., Petaluma.
The event is the brainchild of Griffo’s Tasting Room Manager and “Facilitator of Fun” Kat Prescott who is herself a southern gal and fan of the delicacy. ”While I’m from Memphis originally, my first boil was in Columbia, Missouri hosted by a bunch of pals,” says Prescott. “All it took was one mud bug-and maybe some moonshine- and I was hooked” she laughs adding “and inspired.”
The notion of a good old-fashioned crawdad boil happened at a recent “Sunday Session” get together at Griffo where a local band plays and a food truck sells their grub. On this particular day, the food truck was Cajun Po’Boys and Prescott’s hankering for some crawfish led to a conversation with owner/chef John Gasquet. Prescotts says Gasquet “mentioned hosting a boil at Henhouse Brewing that happened about a month [prior] and I thought it would be a great way to raise some money for Una Vida.”
Petaluma based Una Vida is a non-profit that’s mission is “to build community, share resources, and lovingly serve others.” This is accomplished by gathering food, clothing and houseware donations as well as reducing food waste by redistributing fresh donations from local grocery stores and farms.
Prescott immediately ran with the idea and reached out to Una Vida Founder and Executive Director Lynne Gordon Moquete who says the two met during the COVID lockdown when Prescott reached out offering to volunteer. Speaking of Prescott, Moquete effuses “she has been an angel in including Una Vida in any possible fundraiser, she’s a treasure.”
At this point, one may be wondering what a crawfish boil is all about. Essentially, these are community minded picnic type events that are popular in the south, particularly in southern areas where crawfish are plentiful. Whoever is on boil duty puts together a “seed bag” which is a combination of spices (dill, coriander and mustard seed, cayenne, etc) that get boiled in the water, almost like a zesty tea-bag, along with a combination of vegetables (typically corn on the cob, potatoes, mushrooms, carrots…frankly, whatever is on hand and sounds good!) along with andouille sausage and of course, crawfish.
When the boil is ready it’s then brought over to a large table that’s covered with paper (hopefully) and unceremoniously dumped. Attendees then either pick the delicious vittles up by hand or spoon their shares onto a plate if they’re fancy.
Gasquet proudly notes that he does his crawfish boil the old-school way whereas “restaurants tend to do a blander salt water boil and add seasoning outside. When the water itself is seasoned, the taste goes all the way through.” He also says, “we are going to be able to boil about 25 lbs at a time, but we will keep them steaming hot until the first hundred pounds or so is dumped.
The event also features entertainment from The Pulsators, a perfect match due to their longstanding Sonoma County New Orleans flavored music. There will also be an intriguing sounding “blind live painting” with local artists Jonny Hirschmugl and George Utrilla who will be seated across from one another where with a canvas separating them and every 20 minutes, the two switch seats and continue painting on the other artists canvas.
Tickets to the event are $65 and you must RSVP so the proper amount of crawdads can be ordered.
More info at griffodistillery.com
