Pinch Me: Shared love of crawfish bridges US and Chinese cultures

World
Europe

02:35

Food is a popular way to build bridges, whether with people or countries. And one little critter has China and the United States going crazy. CGTN's Frances Kuo has more on why "crawfish" are all the rage.

The town of Cambridge is nestled on Maryland's eastern shore, with about a 12-thousand residents. But on this Saturday, it's getting a thousand visitors.

"It's become kind of a cult, people drive from all over."

Sure, there's great music and a fun atmosphere, but this is the main attraction.

"They're small, but they pack quite a punch."

These little crawfish are drawing big crowds at this 8th annual festival. Organizers brought in nearly 140 kilograms of it from New Orleans and within the first hour...

"They're almost gone."

FRANCES KUO CAMBRIDGE, MARYLAND "To be able to truly enjoy crawfish, you've got to know how to eat it. All the meat is in the tail, so you pull the head off, pinch the end of the tail and peel off the shell."

"It's more than just eating the crawfish, it's the entire experience."

"It's the fun atmosphere, the communal eating, the camaraderie."

That's also how China sees it. Last year, crawfish, or "little lobster", as it is called in China, was the most popular dish ordered on consumer app Meituan-Dianping. like in Cambridge, they're often enjoyed in social settings at sidewalk snack booths.

Meituan also reports that the crawfish market is worth more than 14 billion dollars, about four percent of the total Chinese foodservice market.

China is the world's largest producer of crawfish, accounting for more than 70 percent of the world's total. Much of it comes from Qianjiang in Hubei province, which is then exported around the world.

KEITH GRAFFIUS ORGANIZER "If you go to a lot of restaurants, a lot of the frozen crawfish that they get are imported from China. We have a big import-export business when it comes to China."

To be clear, seafood could never be confused with statesmanship, but any step towards diplomacy, however small, is worth savouring.

KEITH GRAFFIUS ORGANIZER "With everything going on in the world, it's nice to know that crawfish can bring people together."

Frances Kuo, CGTN, Cambridge, Maryland.