Kiwis taking a stand on frogs’ legs

Press, 18 July 1985, Page 17

Kiwis taking a stand on frogs’ legs

By

DEBORAH McPHERSON

Frogs’ legs may not be on the average New Zealander's shopping list, but if a campaign by the New Zealand Anti-vivisection Society succeeds they may not even reach grocery stores. The New Zealand campaign for a sales ban on the French delicacy is part of a world-wide bid to “let the frogs keep their legs,” says the society. “The majority of Kiwis would probably have a take it or leave it attitude to eating frogs’ legs,” said the manager of the Sorbonne Restaurant, Mr Robert Chamberlaine, in response to the proposed boycott.

The Sorbonne does not have frogs’ legs on its menu as “we can’t get the variety we want,” said Mr Chamberlaine. Mr Chamberlaine could not envisage people “jumping up and down if the delicacy was not available.”

“From what I’ve heard they are highly overrated. The taste more bland than chicken legs, and the

type of frogs’ legs that are available in New Zealand are quite stringy,” he said. “Besides, frogs’ legs cost an arm or a leg, so most people would find them too expensive,” said Mr Chamberlaine.

However, he would not be prepared to boycott the sale of frogs’ legs if he found the quality he was looking for. “We are in the French food business,” he said. The owner of Grimsby’s Restaurant, Mr Wayne Beaumont, agrees that frogs’ legs can be quite tasteless without the addition of garlic or herbs.

Grimsby’s does not have frogs’ legs on its menu. The origins of frogs’ legs as a French dish are not clear.

A spokesman at the French Embassy in Wellington, who declined to be named for fear of creating an international furor as great as that on the origins of the pavlova, said the tradition went back “a long way.”

French people did not eat frogs’ legs as much as Anglo-Saxons would believe, said the embassy spokesman. “Frogs legs are not eaten daily. They are still a delicacy, even in France,” he said. He declined to comment further on the proposed boycott, but did offer a recipe. “The more simply cooked, the better,” he said. “They should taste something like a cross between veal and rabbit. They should not be stringy.” Even the French have to import the delicacy, as there are now laws which prohibit the hunting and killing of frogs. The use of insecticides has killed many of the insects which frogs prefer to feed on, causing in turn a decrease in the frog population. Traditionally a French national dish, frogs’ legs do not seem to

pose a great threat to the national New Zealand dish, lamb. They are considered a “slow seller” by one Christchurch specialist grocery store, which no longer sells them.

Hors D’Oeuvre’s, a Christchurch delicatessen, has sold frogs’ legs “on occasions,” says the manageress, Mrs Margaret Kingen. The delicacy was not in great demand, she said. “They are very expensive.” At one big Christchurch store, frogs’ legs sell for about $6.60 for 104 g. Mrs Kingen said that Americans seemed to eat frogs’ legs more regularly than did the French. “We lived in the southern part of the United States for about seven years, and people used to go out and hunt them there. They ate them quite a bit,” she said. The preparation and cooking of frogs’ legs was not something

taught in the catering section of the department of food and fashion at the Christchurch Polytechnic, said the senior chef tutor, Mr Terry Pryor. Mr Pryor has never tasted frogs’ legs, but knows of some tasty recipes. “They taste best when deep fried and then marinated and then cooked in tomato juice, garlic, white wine and herbs.”

The aspect of the frogs’ legs industry which most concerns the anti-vivisection society is the method of removing the legs from frogs. The society says that the frogs, which are hunted in Bangladesh, India, and Indonesia, have their legs cut off while they are “fully conscious without anaesthetic.”

One Christchurch buyer of imported frogs’ legs, Gunn-Gollin, Ltd, has had letters from the antivivisection society. “They have their facts quite wrong as far as we’re concerned,” said the manager, Mr Dennis Cox.

“For one thing, we don’t import them ourselves, we buy them from an importer,” he said. “Also the ones we buy are from Japan, where the frogs are actually stunned before having their legs amputated.” The Ministry of Agriculture was not able to comment on the controversy as it does not officially recognise frogs’ legs as meat. The culinary dish was not on the menu at five Christchurch restaurants approached by “The Press.” These included Noahs Hotel, the Sorbonne Restaurant, , Henry Africa’s Restaurant, Grimsby’s Restaurant, and La Dolce Vita. Although there does not seem to be a big demand for frogs’ legs, the anti-vivisection society believes there are grounds for a sales boycott. “A show of strength is needed,” said a spokesman for the Christchurch branch of the society, Mr Kevin Watson. “There is sufficient interest in the sale of frogs’ legs to warrant a boycott.”