Frogs legs or cuisses de grenouille are a tradition in certain parts of France. The British calls the French by the affectionate term “frogs” because of it. That said I have never, in many years of visiting France been offered frogs legs and have only seen it on the menu in the Chinese restaurant – “deep fried crispy frogs legs” and I have seen bags of them in the chiller cabinet in the supermarket!
10 Very French Foods....
Butter with salt crystals
I’ve never seen it anywhere else and it’s absolutely delicious on bread and for cooking with!
Foie gras
Love it or loathe it, foie gras is a French staple.
Baguette
For most people, a trip to France is not complete without tucking into a warm crusty baguette or a buttery croissant, and bakeries are as common in France as a corner shop in England. There are various local types of bread specific to different parts of France, and no two bakers are the same. The French bread you are used to, however, has not been eaten in France since time immemorial as you might think.
Long wide loaves have been around since the time of Louis XIV, and long thin ones since the mid-18th century. Some of them were much longer than we see today: “…loaves of bread six feet long that look like crowbars!” (1862). It was the increasing availability and cheapness of wheat from the 19th century that meant white bread was no longer the exclusive preserve of the rich.
Read more about baguettes here!
by Janine Marsh
Made in France