Eat Route
Sarthe
Attention Passage Aux Grenouilles’ say the road signs around La Chartre, in the department of Sarthe in north-west France, reminding all motorists to give way to crossing frogs. From spring till mid-September they come tumbling precariously down roadside verges. The lucky ones land in buckets laid out by council attendants who pick them up each evening and speed them safely to the other side.
In France, frogs are a protected species and commercial frog fishing is outlawed, it goes without saying that wild frogs don’t appear on menus anymore. And yet there is a little-known law that says fishing for personal consumption is still allowed. Armed with a special licence you may venture to the lily pads for 30 minutes after sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset, during the season. To catch a frog the traditional way, take a net in one hand and a fishing rod with a red handkerchief tied to the end in the other. Swish it back and forth over the pond’s surface and sooner or later your unsuspecting amphibian will mistake the ripples for a low-flying dragonfly and leap from his watery lair to catch it on its tongue.
Farmed frog still appears on menus (green being the common-or-garden variety, russet the sought after delicacy), for example at Le Petit Luc, a casual little restaurant on the outskirts of the provincial town of La Chartre. The signature dish, cuisse de grenouilles and juicy langoustines combined in creamy garlic sauce, is a curiously earthy but exotic mix that works astonishingly well. The nearby Loir River and its many tributaries also provide plenty of freshwater fish and the menu includes other regional specialties like trout à la crème, grilled perch, pike terrine, zander in Jasnières wine and eel stew.
For the full feature, including Gourmet stops recommendations, see the August/September issue of Food and Travel magazine
