Frogs

Prehistoric sustenance

"Compared with other vertebrates, reptiles and amphibians are relatively uncommon at archaeological sites. Frogs and small lizard of various kinds provide useful food for some human groups today, and are not so difficult to catch. Indeed, the general lack of archaeological evidence probably results to some extent from the fragile nature of the bones of such animals, and perhaps from softer bone being often eaten with the flesh."

---Food in Antiquity: A Survey of the Diet of Early Peoples, Don Brothwell and Patricia Brothwell, expanded edition [Johns Hopkins University Press:Baltimore] 1998 (p. 56)

Ancient Greek & Roman cuisine



"Frogs and snails were...a popular specialty, snails among the Romans and frogs largely in Gaul."

---A Taste of Ancient Rome, Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa, forward by Mary Taylor Simeti [University of Chicago Press:Chicago] 1992 (p. 12)

The Ancient Greeks and Romans wrote about frogs in their culinary texts: "Batpaxos is a comprehensive word for a variety of tailless amphibians, including aquatic frogs (as here), tree frogs, and even toads. Frogs do not drink in the proper sense, but absorb water into their bodies through their permeable skin and cloacal vents."

---Archestatatos of Gela, S. Douglas Olson and Alexander Sens [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2000 (p. 231)

Medieval European cookery

"In France in the 1390s, and elderly householder, known through his modern editor was the Menagier of Paris', wealthy but not well-born, wrote a book of household management for his fifteen-year-old wife. Unusally, he included for her use a large collection of recipes for all kinds of foods...There are even recipes for cooking frogs and snails."

---Food and Eating In Medieval Europe, Martha Carlin and Joel T. Rosenthal editors [Hambledon Press:London] 1998 (p. 33)

[15th century Rome]

"Book IX 41. On Frogs

Frogs, in now way to be numbered among the fish, rightly belong in this place with respect to their cooking. I reject toads and those creatures living under the earth as harmful. These animals about which I am speaking are aquatic. They are considered better to eat when they are caught by a throw of the net than by a trident, for those touched and wounded by the bite of a serpent are not thought to touch a net. We let the legs of those which are captured be stripped of skin and soaked a night or a day in fresh water. Then when they have been rolled in meal, we fry them in oil. When they are fried and put in a dish, my friend Palellus covers thm with green sauce and sprinkles them with fennel flouwers and spices."

---Platina: A Right Pleasure and Good Health, a critical edition and translation of De Honesta Voluptate et Valetudine, Mary Ella Milham [Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies:Tempe AZ] 1998 (p. 415)

19th century English observations

[1859]

"The consumption of frogs is not, as is very often supposed, confined to the French. It is also indulged in, to a considerable extenty, by Americans; frogs appear to command a high prices in the New York market. An enthusiastic writer tries to convince us, that the only objection to frogs as an article of diet is the mere prejudice on the part of those who have never eaten them. 'In what respect are they worse than eels?'...The Athenoeum...recently came out in favour of frogs. 'There is no reason,' it remarks, 'why we should eschew frogs and relish turtle.'...The green or edible frog...is a native or Europe, some parts of Asia, and also of Northern Africa. It is in high request on the Continent for its flsh, the meat of the hind quarters, which is alone used, being delicate and well tasted. In Vienna, where the consumption of these frogs is very considerable, they are preserved alive, and fattened in froggeries...constructed for the express purpose. In America, the flesh of the huge bull-frog...is tender, white, and affords excellent eating. Some bull-frogs weigh as much as half-a-pound, but the hind legs are the only parts used as food. They make excellent bait for the larger cat-fish. In the Antilles, another huge bull-frog is reared in ta state of domestication for the table."

---The Curiosities of Food, Peter Lund Simmonds, facsimile 1859 edition with an introduction by Alan Davidson [Ten Speed Press:Berkeley CA] 2001 (p. 203-204)

[1877]

"Frogs are at their best in the spring, and therefore it is only in Lent that they are to be seen at Parisian tables. The hind-legs alone are eaten. They are skinned, they are blanched, they are boiled, and they are served either with a poulette sauce or fried in butter. The French have a theary that frogs, having a mighty power of croaking, are good for the chest and soverign over a cough. Theri final cause in fact is the cure of the consumptive."

---Kettner's Book of the Table, E.S. Dallas, facsimile 1877 edition, prefaced by Derek Hudson [Centaur Press Ltd.:London] 1968 (p. 193)

Modern France

"Frogs legs were regarded as a tasty dish in the Middle Ages, particularly during Lent. In France two main species are found: the green or common frog, and the rusty or mute frog...The draining of marshlands has considerably reduced its [green frog] numbers, but it can still be found in the Dombes (hence its fame in Lyonnais gastornomy), in Auvergne, Cologne, Brittany and Alsace...Most of the frogs eaten in France are imported from central Europe and Yugoslavia. They tend to be larger and have more meat than local species...The delicate flavor of the meat is enhanced by seasoning, and frogs' legs are often prepared with herbs, garlic and chopped parsley. The are also made into blanquettes, soups, omelettes and mousselines, and can be fried or sauteed. The most highly regarded recipes come from Lyons, Alsace and Poitour. The Menangier de Paris contained recipes for cooking them in soups and in pies. Frogs' legs are also eaten in Germany and Italy, but they have usually filled the British with disgust. When Escoffier was chef of the Carlton Hotel in London, he managed to have them accepted at the table of the Prince of Wales by calling them cuisses de nymphes aurore (legs of the dawn nymphs)."

---Larousse Gastronomique, completely revised and updated edition [Clarkson Potter:New York] 2001 (p. 527-8)

[1653]

"Fritters of Frogs

Choose the finest and the biggest, dress then cherrie like, that is to say, scrape the thighs of your frogs, so that the bone be clean at one end, whiten them a very little, and dry them. Make a paste with flowre, salt, milk, white cheese, of each a very little; stamp all in a mortar, and make it liquid, untill it be like a paste for fritters. Take your frogs by the bone end, and dip them in, and put them in very hot butter, fry them as fritters, and serve garnished with fried parsley." (p. 226) "Torte of Frogs

Pass the great legs in the pan with good butter very fresh, mushrums, parsley, artichocks sod and cut, and capers, all well seasoned. Put it into a sheet of fine or puft paste, and bake it; after it is baked, serve uncovered with a white sauce." (p. 198) "Pottage of frogs with saffron

Truss up your frogs, and boile them with broth, or with pease broth, and season them with parsley, an onion sticked with cloves and a twig of thime. Stove your bread, and garnish it with your frogs whitened, with saffron or yolks of eggs, then serve." (p. 132)

---The French Cook, Francoise Pierre La Varenne, Englished by I.D.G. 1653, introduced by Philip and Mary Hyman [Southover Press:East Sussex] 2001 [1907]

Escoffier offers seven recipe for frogs legs in his classic Le Guide Culinaire, 1907. These are: "Grenouilles Sautees aux Fines Herbes, Grenouilles Frites (fried frogs' legs), Grenouilles au Gratin, Genouilles a la Meuniere, Mousselines de Grenouilles, Grenouilles a la Poulette and Nymphes a l'Aurore (referenced above, recipe below): " 2174. Nymphes a l'Aurore.

Trim the frogs' legs wll, poach them in white wine sauce and trim and allow to cool in the cooking liquid. When cold, drain and dry them carefully with a clean cloth. Coat each with white Fish Chaud-froid Sauce which has been coloured by the addition of a little paprika. Set a layer of very clear Champagne-flavoured Fish Aspic Jelly in the bottom of a deep square silver dish or glass bowl; place the prepared frogs' legs on top and intersperse them with tarragon leaves and chervil Pluches so as to imitate water plants. Cover the legs completely with the same jelly and allow to set in a cool place. To serve: present the dish of frogs' legs set in a suitably sculpted block of clear ice."

---The Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery, Escoffier, The first translation into English by H.L. Cracknell and R.J. Kaufmann of Le Guide Cuilinare in its entirety [John Wiley:New York] 1979 (p. 256) [1927]

"Frogs (Grenouilles)

The only edible part of frogs are the hindquarters, which is how you buy them, strung on wooden skewers. Freshness is of paramount importance, and can be judged by the appearance of the skin, which should be taut and shiny. As well as the classic recipe a la Poulette, you can prepare frogs in several ways. Whatever the recpe, you always cut off their webbed feet with scissors. "Sauteed Frog's Legs (Grenouilles Sautees)

Time: 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then saute in butter in a pan over a strong heat to season and color them well. Arrange on a plate or a timbale and moisten with lemon juice, then finally, sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley. Or, dip in flour and saute in the pan, using a few tablespoons of good olive oil instead of butter. If you wish, add a little bit of garlic."

--- , Madame E. Saint-Ange, translated and with an introduction by Paul Aratow [Ten Speed Press:Berkely CA] 2005 (p. 246-247)

[NOTES: (1) This book also offers recipes for Fried Frog's Legs, Frog's Legs in Fines Herbes and Frog's Legs in Rich Mushroom Sauce. (2) We have a copy of Mme. St. Ange's original French text. Happy to scan/send if you wish.]

American heritage & interpretation

"Frogs' legs. Any of various preparations using the legs of three United States species of frog, the "green frog" (Rana clamitans), the "American bullfrog" (R. Catebeiana), or the "northern leopard frog" (R. Pipiens). The majority of these are caught in Florida and Louisiana, where they are a delicacy, either deep-fried or made with a spicy sauce."

---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman] 1999 (p. 134)



[1885]

"'Grenouilles Frites,' or Fried Frogs

Use only the hind=quarters of the frogs. After washing them in warm water, soak well; then put them into cold vinegar with a little salt, and let them remain one or two hours, after which throw them into scalding water, and remove the skin without tearing the flesh. Wipe them dry, dust flour on them and fry in butter or sweet oil, with plenty of chopped parsley. When brown, dust pepper with a little salt over them, and garnish with crisped parsley. Stewed frogs are seasoned with butter, wine, beaten eggs and parsley chopped fine."

---La Cuisine Creole, facsimile 2nd edition, 1885 [Famous Recipes Press:Louisville KY] 1966 (p. 32) [1908]

"Baked Frogs' Legs

Prepare and clean one dozen frogs' legs, put a thick layer of minced mushrooms and sifted brown breadcrumbs in a baking dish, lay the pieces of legs on them, season with salt and pepper, strew a few sweet herbs over, also more sifted crumbs, put to or theree amll bits of lemon peel on the top, squeeze over the juice of a lemon, and pour in aobut one breakfast cupful of brown gravy. Cover the whole with a sheet of buttered paper andbkae for half an hour in a moderate oven. When cooked, brown them under a salamander, and serve in the same dish."

---The Cook Book By 'Oscar' of the Waldorf, Oscar Tschirky [Saalfiedl Publishing:Chicago] 1908 (p. 98-99)

[NOTE: This book also offers recipes for Broiled Frogs' Legs, Fricasseed Frogs' Legs, Fried Frogs' Legs and Stewed Frogs' Legs.] [1911]

"Frogs' Legs

The hind legs of the common green frog are enjoyed in both Europe and in the United States as a delicate food much resembling chicken. There are two varieties on the market--the small marsh frog and the large bull frog. The latter is the more convenient for use and market purposes, but the smaller kind is more delicate in flesh. They are in season all year, but are considered best from June to October. Frog farming has become a recognized industry, the output of the ponds having, in the neighborhoods of large cites, as sure sale at fair prices. Among the devices for feeding them are boards smeared with honey or sugar, to attract insects withc the frogs greedily devour."

---The Grocer's Encyclopedia, Artemas Ward [National Grocer:New York] 1911 (p. 255-256) [1941]

"Frogs' Legs

Frogs' legs are becoming more and more plentify on the market, keeping up with the increasing demand. This country consumes more frogs' legs than any other. A few years ago, frogs' legs were prohibited in certain seasons by now we have them all the year round. They are raised in special places like terrapin, oysters, etc. Their meat is delicious and as white as the whitest part of chicken. "Frogs' Legs Meuniere

Dip them in milk, roll in flour and saute in very hot oil or butter. Remove when they are golden brown and place them in a serving dish. Season with salt and pepper and a few drops of lemon juice. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Cook some butter until it becomes nut brown and pour over the frogs' legs. Serve with slices of lemon."

---Cooking a la Ritz, Louis Diat [J.B. Lippincott Company:Philadelphia] 1941(p. 148)

[NOTE: This book also offers recipes for Frogs' Legs a la Poulette and Frogs' Lehgs Provencale.] [1964]

"Frog Legs Provencale

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup green pepper, chopped

1/2 cup chopped onions

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

1 tablepsoon chopped parsley

2 tablespoons chopped shallots

2 chips whole tomates

1/2 teaspoon salt

Dash cayenne

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 cup milk

8 frog legs

Melt butter in a 10-inch skillet. Saute green pepper, garlic, mushrooms, parsley, onions and shallots. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper and simmer over very low heat 10 minutes. While sauce is cooking, make a batter of the egg and milk. Dip frog legs in this batter and drain. Dredge in flour and fry in butter until golden brown. Add to sauce and simmer five minuts more. Arrange legs on serving platter and cover with sauce. 2 servings."

---Brennan's New Orleans Cookbook, edited and illustrated by Dierdre Stanforth, new revised edition [Robert L. Crager & Company:New Orleans] 1964 (p. 102)

Sardines

Food historians confirm sardines have been consumed for thousands of years. Members of the herring family, sardines take their name from the tiny island country of Sardinia, in the Mediterranean. Sardine cuisine is traditionally popular throughout this region. Pilchards are sometimes called "Cornish Sardines."

"In commerce "sardine" is not the name of any one fish but rather a collective term for a number of small soft-boned species in the herring family...The cannning industry began on the island of Sardinia with a Mediterranean species Sardina pilchardus, thus the name had historical acceptance. However, there are some difference in texture and flavor between the various fishes and often extreme variations in the quality of the pack...Large fresh sardines may be split and cooked over charcoal while butter basting, then served with generous splashes of lemon juice. In the Sicilian style they are baked in white wine, Sarde al Bino Bianco, or baked with a stuffing made from bread crumbs, anchovies, pine nuts, white raisins, onions and parsley in making a Sarde a Beccafico."

---The Encyclopedia of Fish Cookery, A.J. McClane [Holt Rinehart:New York] 1977 (p. 276-7)

[1873]

"Sardine. A small, delicately flavored, salt-water fish. It is found everywhere, but especially off the shores of Brittany, where the sardine fisheries are a source of wealth for the inhabitants. It is said that in the eighteenth century they already produced an immense revenue, and in the city of Port-Louis alone, four thousand barrels were put up each year. Sardines are abundant in the Mediterranean, especially around Sardinia, form whihc they derive their name. Only inhabitants of the coast can eat fresh sardines, and even so the sardines must be salted as they are taken from the water, for of all fish these keep the shortest time. Sardines are prepared by salting and smoking. Those from the North are the most highly esteemed because aromatic herbs and spices are added to their brine, giving them a very pleasant flavor. But these sardines do not keep very long. When they have spoiled, they are used as bait for mackerel and other sea fish. Pisanelli claims that sardines love the sound of musical instruments, and will stick their heads out of the water to listen. Drinkers especialy fond of saridens, which stimulate their thirst and, they say, help them distinguish the best wine."

---Dictionary of Cuisine, Alexandre Dumas, originally published 1873, edited, abridged and translated by Louis Colman [Simon & Schuster:New York] 1958 (p. 214-5)

[1907]

"Fresh sardines and Royans which are a type of large sardine, lend themselves to numerous preparations. Monsieur Caillat's book 150 Manieres d'Accomoder les Sardines is devoted soley to these fish and is recommended to anyone wishing to utilize them for their menus."

---The Compelete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery, Escoffier, 1907, the first translation into English by H.L. Cracknell and R.J. Kaufmann of Le Guide Culinaire in its entirety [John Wiley:New York] 1979 (p. 215)

[1911]

Sardines (& French Sardines, American Sardines) The Grocer's Encyclopedia/Artemas Ward

Pilchards

Pilchards (aka Cornish sardines & Gypsy herring) are native to Cornwall and Devon England. They figure prominently in the local fishing industry and cuisine. Stargazey Pie, featuring local pilchards, is a Christmas dish from the old days.

"Pilchard (Sardina pilcsarsdus), a fish of the herring family. Its name in England of the 16th century was 'pylcher' or 'pilchar,' the origin of which is unknown. Sardine is simply another name for a young pilchard; the sardines that are tinned in France and Portugal are immature fish of the same stock as the pilchards taken off the coast of Cornwall. Pilchards are also called 'gypsy herring.' Because of their high fat content they travel very badly, which is why, like sardines, they are only to be bought fresh in the neighbourhood of the ports at which they are landed. The shoals appear without warning and only briefly, and often almost the whole catch is tinned. However, in Cornwall it is possible to buy them fresh after a catch, and then they are baked, grilled, or, particularly prepared as the famous Cornish dish star gazey pie. Pilchards used to be salted and smoked all over the West Country and were known there as Cornish 'fair maids,' a corruption of fumado, the Spanish word for smoked, which no doubt became current when Spanish fishing fleets used to assemble off the Cornish coast in the 18th century. It is possible that some of the curious sunken pits to be seen in Cornwall were used for the smoking of the these fish in early times. In the 18th century and earlier, oil was extracted from pilchards. The best season for pilchards is the latter half of the year. They are chiefly obtainable canned in a strong tomato sauce which entirely destroys their original flavour."

---Food of the Western World: An Encyclopedia of Food from North America and Europe, Theodora Fitzgibbon [Quadrangle New York Times Book Company:New York] 1976 (p. 340)

[1875]

"Pilchards are rarely found on the British shores except on the coasts of Cornwall and Devon, particularly the former, where the are captured in great numbers from the middle of July to the end of November, or even the middle of December. Cornish fishermen say that the pilchard is the least fish in the sea for size, the most in number, and the greatest for gain taken from the sea. The principal seats of the pilchard fishery are St. Ives, Mount's Bay, and Mevagissey. The fish are captured either by seans or by drift-net. A sean is a net 200 to 300 fathoms long, and over ten feet deep, having cork buoys on one edge and lead weights on the other. Whenever the fish are brought on shore they are carried to cellars or warehouses, and piled in large heaps, a sufficient quantity of salt being placed between the layers. After remaining in this state for about thirty-five days they are carefully washed and cleaned, and then packed in hogsheads, containing on an average 2,600 fish. They are then pressed, so as to extract the oil, of which each hogshead yields about three gallons, provided the fish be caught in summer. Those taken late in the season do not yield above a gallon and a half. The fresh fish in a hogshead of pilchards weigh about six hundred-weight, and the salt about six hundred-weight and a half; the weight of the hogshead, however, when cured and pressed, is reduced to about four and a half hundred-weight, including the weight of the cask, which ranges form twenty to twenty-four pounds. The quantity of pilchards taken at one time is sometimes extraordinary. Mr. Yavul, in 1841, mentions that an instance has been known where 10,000 hogsheads have been take in one port in a single day, thus providing the enormous multitude of over 25,000,000 of living creatures drawn from the ocean for human sustenance. Pilchards are not used in England except in Devon and Cornwall. They are principally exported, and are largely consumed in some parts of the continent during the season of Lent. The taste of the pilchard is very like that of the herring, but it is more oily. Even after much of the oil has been removed by pressure, it is still as rich as could be wished."

---Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery with Numerous Illustrations [Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co.:London] 1875 (p. 572)

[NOTE: This book offers a recipe for Pilchard and Leek Pie (A Devonshire Dish), instructions for cooking pilchards and a line drawing of the fish.]

[1877]

"Pilchard, called also the gipsy herring, is a fine fat fish most abundant on the Devonshire and Cornwall coasts; but it is to be found all over the Channel, and on the French coast it goes by the name of sardine. They are large for sardines, but they are treated as such in Devonshire and Cornwall, and are now sold in tins under the name of Cornish sardines. The result is worthy of praise, and ought to be the beginning of a successful industry. It is the first attempt in England to preserve fish in oil. It would be too much to say that they are equal to the best French sardines--that was not to be expected in a first experiment; but still they are good, well-flavoured sardines; and when the Cornish men--Tre, Pol and Pen--have thoroughly mastered the are of preserving fish in oil, their fat little pilchards should be known as the finest sardines in the world, and the perfection of preserved herrings. We know little of the pilchard in London, or anywhere far from Land's End. The fact is, that being the most sublime of herrings, with a richness which raises him almost to the nobleness of a salmon-trout, the pilchard, with all his fatness, begins to spoil much too soon after he has bidden adieu to his native element; and he is by no means sublime--he is even rancid--when he reaches the glorious Walhalla of fish in Billingsgate. Whenever a pilchard is found fresh, he is to be cooked as a herring of high degree. His season is between July and Christmas. It is singular, considering the goodness of the pilchard, that he is of no repute when cured, and is not to be named beside the bloater of Yarmouth, the salt erring of the Dutch, or the red herring of Scotland. Probably the larger pilchards, with their salmon-trout flavour, might make a name for themselves in the form of kipper; and there is now every prospect that the smaller pilchards will spread their renown in the guide of Cornish sardines."

---Kettner's Book of the Table, E.S. Dallas, preface by Derek Hudson, facsimile 1877 edition [Centaur Press:London] 1968 (p. 351-352)

[1894]

"Pilchards. Those are found in great numbers on the coasts of Cornwall and Devon. They are very oily, and are only eaten in the uncured state in or near the places where caught; but they are cured in large quantities after the oil has been extracted by pressure; even then, they are very rich. While fresh, they may be dressed like herrings, and the pilchards in oil--sold in tins, the Cornish are the best--are very useful as a breakfast dish, or they may be converted into little savouries in the same way as sardines. The cost in the fresh state is uncertain; tinned ones are about 1s for the best brands. In Devonshire, a pie is made of pilchards and leeks, but the taste is an acquired one, and it would probably not prove palatable to those unaccustomed to such a combination. The fin of the pilchard is just in the middle of the back; it is thus easily distinguished from a herring."

---Cassell's New Universal Cookery Book, Lizzie Heritage [Cassell and Company:London] 1894 (p. 174)

[1997]

According to the Cornish Sardine Management Association, "Cornish Sardines" was coined in 1997. Our research confirms this appellation was used for pilchards in the 19th century.

Recommended reading:

Hevva! Cornish Fishing in the Days of Sail/Ketih Harris [2010]

