Each nation has its own traditional dishes, culinary specialties and favorite foods. In Korea, they eat dog meat soup, in Cambodia they like fried spiders, and in Japan they can offer jibashi senbei cookies for tea, the highlight of which is wasps. Compared to this, the French delicacy, frog legs, seems like child's play.
Do the French eat frogs
The first dish made from frog legs appeared in France during the military conflict with England, which lasted from 1337 to 1453. At that time, most of the French were starving, so people had to taste these amphibians. At first, only the poor ate them, later frog meat became a favorite delicacy of the aristocracy.
The need to use frog legs has disappeared, but the demand has only increased over the years. The offensive nickname - the paddling pool - did not stop the French, they continued to invent more and more new dishes. The population of frogs was under threat, because to collect one kilogram of paws, more than twenty kilograms of live individuals had to be exterminated. Agricultural lands were the first to suffer, as the increased number of insects destroyed crops with impunity. The French Ministry of Agriculture demanded a ban on uncontrolled fishing, but since the delicacy was consumed even by officials, the ban was achieved only in 1977.
Now restaurant owners buy frog legs from farmers who breed the fleshy species of these animals. The paws are also delivered frozen from other countries, but it is believed that their taste is much worse than that of local, French ones.
Frog paw dishes
Unlike Thailand, where frogs are cooked whole, eating even their insides, in France only legs are involved in cooking. This is the most meaty part, which after cooking, depending on the method, tastes like chicken or crab meat. Both soups and main dishes are prepared from frog paws.
At first, soup was cooked from the paws, in which, in addition to frog meat, they put what was at the moment in the house. Most often it was just a bow. Nowadays, first courses are practically not prepared, preferring fried meat with various side dishes and sauces. Frog legs are fried in a pan or skewers. After processing, the meat becomes very soft. They eat it whole, without using cutlery, along with bones.
If you want to cook frog legs in batter, you will need flour, milk, and an egg. The paws should be rolled in dough and placed in a frying pan heated with oil. Cooking time 15-20 minutes.
To prepare fried frog legs, you need parsley, cloves, garlic and onions, pepper and lemon juice. Heat the oil in a skillet, lay out the legs and fry them for 10 minutes. Then sprinkle with chopped parsley, salt and pepper and add the rest of the seasoning. When one side is browned, flip over and add lemon juice. Any vegetables are suitable as a side dish, and dry white wine is suitable for drinks.
