Eating gifts from Fidel Castro
At the most critical moment during the Cold War, when the world was about to come the closest it ever had to nuclear disaster, and when China was in the violent throes of the Cultural Revolution, President Fidel Castro 1 decided to make a present to Premier Zhou Enlai of 180 edible Cuban bullfrogs.
At that time the bullfrog population of mainland China was exactly zero. Forty five years later, those 180 amphibians have spawned to become a ubiquitous feature of Chinese markets, and nationwide are marinated, stir-fried and boiled in hotpots in millions of meals everyday. Widespread cultivation of bullfrogs took off in 1990, and today there are breeding farms in fifteen provinces.
The bullfrog 2 timeline:
1960
June Sino-Soviet split becomes public
28 September China established diplomatic relations with Cuba
November Cuban leader Che Guevara, heading a government economic delegation, pays a visit to China, and signs the first Sino-Cuban Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation
1961
17 April Abortive invasion of Cuba directed by the CIA. Castro declares Cuba to be a socialist republic and enters close ties with the Soviet Union.
1962
February the US announces its economic embargo on Cuba
April/May Khrushchev decides to secretly deploy Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba.
13 June 180 bullfrogs sail up the Pearl river and arrive at the Guangzhou docks, ending their long journey from Cuba. Rearing and experimental cultivation is begun by the Guangzhou Provincial Aquatic Products Research Institute.
14 October A U-2 aerial reconnaissance flight over Cuba returned photographs of medium-range ballistic missiles and launch pads in Cuba, where they would be within easy striking distance of much of the mainland United States.
24 October To prevent further delivery of Soviet weapons, US establishes a naval blockade of Cuba by American forces. U.S. strategic nuclear forces were placed on DEFCON 2, the highest alert status below actual nuclear war.
27 October An American U-2 was shot down over Cuba by a surface-to-air missile. As tension mounts, the Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that they were ready to launch an invasion of Cuba within twenty-four hours.
28 October Following US agreement not to invade Cuba, Khrushchev announces that the missiles on Cuba would be dismantled and shipped back to the Soviet Union. The crisis was over. Mao criticised Khrushchev for backing down in the Cuban missile crisis (“Khrushchev has moved from adventurism to capitulationism”), to which Khrushchev responded that Mao’s policies would lead to a nuclear war.
1963
12 March The Southern Daily Newspaper reported that the State Aquatic Product General Bureau had set up an experimental bullfrog aquaculture site in Guangzhou.
According to this 2003 Amphibiaweb article it seems that the European and American consumption of edible frogs is actually greater than that of Asia:
In the 1990’s, Europe imported 6,000 metric tons of frog legs each year… Between 1981 and 1984, the United States imported more than 6.5 million pounds (3 million kg) of frog meat per year. That is the equivalent of approximately 26 million frogs.
Sources:
Timeline [in Chinese]: www.gzdaj.gov.cn, www.answers.com
China Cuba relations: www.fmprc.gov.cn
- Fidel Castro 菲德尔.卡斯特罗fěi dé ěr – kǎ sī tè luó
- Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) 牛蛙niú wā From answers.com:
The largest North American frog, reaching 8 inches (203 mm) and more than 3.3 lb (1.5 kg). Rather than actively hunting, bullfrogs wait for their prey to come to them. They eat others of their own species, frogs and tadpoles, snakes, insects, worms, and crustaceans. Males have a loud booming call.
This is what the blurb on Wu Beiqi’s book on How To Set Up a Successful Bullfrog Aquatic Breeding Farm says:
Of all the species of frogs, bullfrogs are second only in size to the African Rana goliath. Its flesh is succulent and tender, in every 100g of meat there are proteins of 19.9g, a proportion even higher than that of the soft shelled turtle. The levels of cholesterol are lower than beef, pork or chicken, and with current public concerns about high blood pressure and heart disease it is a low-fat, low-cholesterol alternative. The bullfrog consumes even more insects than common frogs: one 500g bullfrog will eat 20,000 insects over the course of a year… The first domestic cultivation of bullfrogs [in the world] began in 1899, and in 1924 the first bullfrogs were brought into China for experimental cultivation, but this was not a success.
Source: www.cnan.gov.cn [in Chinese]
Bullfrogs have inevitably now escaped to the wild, and thrive to such an extent that they threaten indigenous Chinese frog populations.
Paddy field chickens (Hoplobatrachus rugulosus) 田鸡tián jī Before the arrival of its larger brethren (for which it must be glad for taking some of the heat off), the only edible frog in China were these indigenous frogs. English common names: Chinese Edible Frog, East Asian Bullfrog, Taiwanese Frog, Tiger Frog.
Amphibious 两栖 liǎng qī literally “two habitats”, an amphibious car is 水陆两用汽车 (“water-land two use automotive”)
