Ingredients

　　12 cups water

　　One 3-ounce bag Zatarain’s Shrimp and Crab Boil or other seafood seasoning

　　1 tablespoon salt

　　1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

　　Juice of 2 lemons

　　4 pounds shrimp in the shells

　　Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Add the seafood seasoning, salt, cayenne pepper, if desired, lemon juice, and shrimp. Bring back to a boil, cover, and boil for 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and set aside for 15 minutes. Drain and serve.

　　Cooks' Note

　　Use any size shrimp, and serve them any way you like—warm or chilled, peeled or not, plain or with some Remoulade Sauce (page 323). In New Orleans, we like to boil our shrimp with the heads on, but this variety is hard to find in many other parts of the country. If you do cook heads-on shrimp, increase the amount of salt used to 3 tablespoons and the amount of cayenne pepper, if you add it, to 1 teaspoon.

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