Cuisses de grenouille – a dish with a beautifully sounding name. Many people however will probably cringe a little when they hear what it actually is. Frog legs are a very popular dish in French cuisine and are particularly traditional in the region of the Dombes, département of Ain. They can also be found in French-speaking Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Louisiana and the Caribbean and in general in South and East Asia and parts of Africa as a delicacy.
The meat of cuisses de grenouille recalls in taste and texture to that of a young chicken. Usually only the hind legs with the lower part of the spine are used from various types of frogs, especially from the family of the Real frogs (Ranidae) and their closer relatives.
While frogs were caught for human consumption in Europe until the 20th century they are mainly imported from Asia today. The main customer in Europe is France with 150 million frogs’ legs per year.
How To Eat Cuisses De Grenouille
The easiest way is to simply eat frog legs with your hands. Just do it in the same way as you would eat chicken legs. If you are in a fancy restaurant or at a formal dinner you can first separate the large joint of the frog leg with a knife and fork. Then, either use just one hand to hold it or simply use the knife and fork to cut off small pieces that you can eat in one bite.
Many gourmet restaurants around the world serve frog legs nowadays. Gladly, this makes it rather easy for you to try same no matter where you live. However, you don’t want to spend money on an expensive meal? Then check out our simple recipe for authentic cuisses de grenouille:
Cuisses de Grenouille
Ingredients
- 8 frog legs
- 1 clove garlic
- parsley
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 pinch flour
- 1 lemon
Instructions
- Thaw frozen frog legs and dry them on paper towels.
- Meanwhile peel the garlic, wash the parsley and chop everything.
- Toss the frog legs in flour.
- Melt the butter in the frying pan and brown the frog legs on each side
- Add the chopped garlic and parsley just before the meat is almost done
- Let the frog legs fry until they are well done and serve them immediately
- Besprinkle with some lemon juice right before eating them
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Images:
cuisse de grenouille by Kai ‘Oswald’ Seidler, licensed under CC BY 2.0