Cuisses de Grenouilles.
Frogs' Legs in French Cuisine.
from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Cuisses de Grenouille a la Provençale.
Cuisses de Grenouilles – Frogs’ legs.
Until thirty or so years ago, Italian deep-fried calamari,
deep-fried squid, was a strange dish. Then about twenty-five years ago along came
Japanese sushi and sashimi. They made many different fish and seafood dishes
widely available on our menus. Around the same time, travelers brought back a
taste for conches and goats they had discovered in the Caribbean while others
told us about the reindeer steaks they enjoyed in Scandinavia. Our exposure to
different meats, disparate fish, diverse cheeses, offbeat fruits, and different
wines also prepared us to enjoy frog's legs.
Stir-fried frog’s legs.,
www.flickr.com/photos/ruocaled/6330547866/
The taste of frog’s legs?
Frog’s legs have their own mild taste. The nearest taste
comparison, not the texture, I would give to the tails of freshwater crayfish. Crayfish are
no more visually attractive than frogs, but their tails are as equally tasty as
frog’s legs. Like many other foods, including fish, beef, chicken, and
crayfish the final taste is directly related to the manner of cooking and the
sauces used. While enjoying your frog’s legs remember they are also good
for you as they have plenty of Omega 3.
What about the texture of frog's
legs?
Frog’s legs have a texture somewhat similar to the meat on chicken
wings; however, that is the texture, not the taste. They have thin bones, and
the meat may be served on or off the bone.
NB: Frog’s legs and their meat are not at all greasy; if you are served
fatty frog’s legs, that is the fault of the chef cooking them in too much oil
or butter, so send them back.
Frog Legs with capers in tomato sauce
www.flickr.com/photos/danielchownet/30851669241/
When you see Frog’s legs on the menus in
France, do not pass them by.
Frog’s legs have a texture somewhat similar to the meat on chicken
wings; however, that is the texture, not the taste. They have thin bones, and
the meat may be served on or off the bone.
NB: Frog’s legs and their meat are not at all greasy; if you are served
fatty frog’s legs, that is the fault of the chef cooking them in too much oil
or butter, so send them back.
Frog's legs on French menus:
Cuisses de Grenouilles Frites au Citron
et à l'Ail – Deep-fried frog’s legs flavored with lemon
and garlic.
Cuisses de Grenouilles à la Provençale - Frog’s legs cooked in tomatoes, white wine, shallots and flavored with garlic
and parsley.
Frog legs, salsa negra, scallion, lime.
www.flickr.com/photos/68147320@N02/39076909505/
Cuisses de Grenouille Sautées aux Ananas – Frog’s legs lightly fried with pineapple.
Ravioles de Grenouilles aux Morilles et Vin Jaune –
Raviolis stuffed with frog’s leg meat and morel mushrooms and served in a yellow Jura wine sauce.
The wine used with this dish is the Vin Jaune, the yellow wine made famous in
the French department of Jura in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. This is
a very aromatic dessert wine with a taste somewhat like a dry fino sherry.
Deep Fried Frogs' Legs
Frog’s legs used to be on every bistro’s menu as a traditional low-priced dish. Then highly-trained
French chefs who had grown up enjoying frog’s legs at home or in a local bistro
began applying their knowledge. Now they have created recipes that adorn the
menus of the most elegant restaurants. You will be offered frog’s legs meat
served with pasta, frog’s legs meat in pies, frog’s legs with wild mushrooms
and excellent wines as well as frog’s legs pizza.
Nevertheless, like many other food products, the rise in the
standard of living, along with the popularity of frogs’ legs, has created a
shortage of domestic frogs raised in frog farms. Today, over half of
France’s requirements are imported from the Far-East. Domestic French
frog farming is trying to catch up, but it has a long way to go before it can
meet the local demand.
Where else can you enjoy frogs’ legs
in Europe.
Frog’s legs popularity is not unique to France. Frog's legs will be
on the menus in Spain, Germany, Italy and other Western Europe countries. The
USA, Canada, and the UK all have their own frog farms to supply part of their
domestic demand.
The Froggies.
Eating frog's legs shocked British soldiers in WWI when they found
out that the French ate them! Eating frogs’ legs earned the French
soldiers the British nickname “ Froggies!”
Frog’s legs in the languages of France’s neighbors:
(Catalan - anques de granota), (Dutch - kikkerbenen), (German - froschschenkel),
(Italian- cosce di rane), (Spanish - muslos de ranas).
Frogs legs and the inventor Luigi
Galvani's who changed our lives.
Luigi Galvani's work with frog’s legs made him famous. Galvani’s
name is associated with the Galvanic cell, the Galvanometer, and Galvanization.
That fame began with this medical doctor’s early experiments using frog’s legs
to show the effects of electricity on nerves. Galvani's probably enjoyed eating
frog's legs, but his scientific tests were not in the kitchen. I have included
Galvani in this post as he is an interesting subject for discussion while
dining on frog's legs.
Statue of Luigi Galvani (1737 – 1798) in Bologna, Italy.
www.flickr.com/photos/127226743@N02/26655411816/
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Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2014, 2018, 2020
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