Crawfish and Pasta
Pasta sits upon the shelf
Crawfish crawls on the ocean floor
One has a shelf life
One lives a shelled life
And Yet
Both foods bring enormous
Amounts of Joy
Pasta and Crawfish represent something
They stand for something bigger
Pasta is Italy
Crawfish is Acadia
how is it so?
Pasta is kneaded and rolled
Crawfish crawls until it is caught
And then, both are boiled
One is inanimate
Lifeless, motionless, inert
The other is animate
Conscious, breathing, alive
And yet
Both foods bring enormous
Amounts of Joy
Pasta is the food of Italy
The people of Sicily, Tuscany, Calabria, and Umbria
Crawfish is the food of Louisiana
New Orleans, Plaquemines, and Bogalusa
Italian pasta evolved from Chinese noodles
Crawfish evolved from its biological predecessor
Crawfish is to Louisiana
as
Pasta is to Italy
Paranephrops planifrons
Lasagne
Crayfish
Macaroni
Crawdads
Rigatoni
Mudbugs
Pasta traveled from China to Italy
From Merchants who exchanged cultures
Centuries ago
Crawfish traveled from
The different crevices of the ocean
Both embody
Life
Love
Family
I chose to imitate “the poetry of pasta” in my poem. I chose this piece because I enjoyed the way the poet described how pasta was the result of cultural exchanges by visualizing the journey that pasta made. When the poet wrote that pasta “swam all the way across the Atlantic to America,” he or she personified pasta and brought the food to life. This writing technique is effective because it helps readers connect to pasta on a deeper level. By giving pasta human qualities, readers are able to appreciate, be compassionate towards, and form relationships with the food. I also enjoyed how the poet was able to mention numerous types of pasta towards the end of this poem. I thought this was the perfect poem to imitate, because I would be able to compare and contrast pasta and crawfish. Like pasta, crawfish is delicacy in Louisiana. Families gather during crawfish season for what is known as “crawfish boils”. The men of the family usually buy live crawfish by the pound and boil the crawfish with spices, lemons, oranges, celery, onion, garlic, potatoes, corn, and sausage. The process of boiling crawfish is almost as complex and hectic as a kitchen full of Italian Nonas making Sunday dinner. The bright red crawfish are washed off with a water hose to get the extra mud off of the “mudbugs”. This usually draws the attention of the kids, who stop their games of hide and seek, to see if they can pick a live crawfish up without getting pinched. As the crawfish cook, tables and chairs are set up, and old newspapers are placed on top of the tables to absorb the juice from the boiled crawfish. Teenagers are usually in charge of filling coolers with ice and sodas, or “cold drinks,” as they are called in Louisiana. Before I Let Go by Maze plays in the background as the hot crawfish and fixings are poured on the newspaper. As the steam rises and then disappears, the smiles on faces become evident. Conversations begin to die off as everyone picks up a crawfish, takes the head off and sucks it, peels the tail, and pinches the meat. Like the chefs that are described in the Rhapsody of Pasta, the men responsible for boiling crawfish are quickly put back to work as “additional requests suddenly arrive” (Xi 455). The chefs hurry back to the boiling pot, making sure to be receptive to criticism by making the next batches of crawfish spicier or putting more corn in the batch. This scene is common across Louisiana, and speaks to the power of Crawfish.
I learned that pasta is a living part of Italian culture. I always thought that pasta was an inanimate object that has stayed the same for many years. The poet made it apparent to me that pasta is ever evolving and it runs through the veins of Italian people. The poet describes pasta as being “strong”, and in many ways, it is. Pasta, like the Italian people, is strong. For a food to survive for centuries and be able to retain its integrity, it has to be strong. Through my writing, I was able to realize that crawfish is no less important than pasta. Pasta is eaten year-round by people all over the world- far more than crawfish. In contrast, Crawfish is a seasonal food that is eaten in very specific parts of the world. Because of that, I felt that crawfish was less significant than noodles. Through writing this poem, I was able to realize that both foods make people feel a warmth that travels through their bodies and makes their hearts smile. Eating both crawfish and pasta symbolizes ritual and tradition. Crawfish boils have been a tradition in Louisiana for multiples decades, and methods of preparation have changed very little. Crawfish boils happen on special occasions like Easter Sunday and during family reunions. My grandmother ate crawfish on Easter Sunday. My mother ate crawfish on Easter Sunday. I eat crawfish on Easter Sunday, and my children will do the same. While “pasta may have a much older pedigree, going back hundred-if not thousands-of years,” (Demetri) it is no more important of significant than the less recognized food traditions in Louisiana.
The piece that I read has cultural DNA throughout. The poet strategically used Italian words throughout the poem to embody Italian culture more effectively. The poet also mentioned many types of pasta and their English translation. For example, the poet mentioned vermicelli, which translates to “little worms.” By doing this, the reader is able to develop a deeper understanding of Italian culture through noodles. I attempted to embed cultural DNA in my project by mentioning cities in Louisiana, such as Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Opelousas, Plaquemines, and Bogalusa. Most of these cities are not well known, but crawfish is extremely important in these cultures. Many of these cultures thrive on the crawfish and seafood industries and make most of their money from crawfish. I thought it was important to mention these cities, because they are an integral part of my relationship with crawfish.
Overall, my poem attempted to compare and contrast crawfish and pasta. Through this project I was able to learn that both crawfish and pasta hold a special place in people’s heart, and symbolize life, love, and family, tradition, memory, and ritual.