Food - Drink
Is Eating Crawfish Heads Safe?
By JOHN TOLLEY
Crawfish lovers are known to scarf down the Pelican State seafood’s meaty tail and then suck on its head. But why would they do that when there's no meat in a crawfish head, and is it even safe to slurp whatever is in there?
While the crawfish tail presents most folks with a smaller morsel of meat not unlike lobster or shrimp in appearance and flavor, its cephalothorax — "the head" — is a bit more complicated. The crawfish head accounts for much of the body and contains the internal organs, such as the rudimentary brain, the gut, and the heart.
Eater Houston, a trusted source on all things crawfish, says eating the head is not only safe but recommended. The head’s organs provide an assortment of flavors not found in the tail, including the hot, salty juice from the spice-flecked broth. So dig in!