What! Can you really eat that?
In Australia, we have some specialities that French people really would not like, such as .. Vegemite, mint sauce, Wichitty grubs, kangaroo....and in France, they've got...snails, frogs' legs....tripe, kidneys, wild mushrooms, and ......!
They certainly have some weird things that you can eat in France! Seriously though, have the courage to taste them as many are very healthy, as well as tasty; so they are worth a try!
Honest! I got skinny legs!
Parole d'honneur! J'ai des cuisses maigrichonnes!
Snails:
There are two sorts of snails you can use for cooking, those from Burgundy - which are the biggest and the best known; and those that are known as "Little grey snails" which have a juicier taste.
You can buy fresh snails in winter or get them in a tin or frozen all year round. You need to buy at least a dozen snails per person, or twice as many if they are the "Little Greys". You cook them in butter or a cream sauce with garlic and white wine. Yummy!
Frogs' Legs
You can serve them grilled on sticks, fried or in soup. The fresh fish shop sells fresh frogs' legs, or you can get them frozen in the fish section of the supermarket. The meat is white and tastes like, and has the texture of, chicken meat. It is a good source of protein and is low in calories.
How awful is offal? No! It isn't!
Beef or sheep's heart is sometimes stuffed and served in a delicious sauce.
Kidneys can be grilled on sticks or fried or can be served in a sauce with Calvados (apple brandy) or cream.
Liver - veal or lamb - is very tasty. Beef and Pork liver are used for terrines (a sort of pâté). Liver is very high in iron. Goose liver or duck liver is a luxury product, which is known as pâté de foie gras. This is sold in tins or glass bottles.
Pâté de foie gras
Tripe is cows' intestines, and is a speciality wherever you are in France. In the north, they are served with cider, leeks and carrots - Tripes à la mode de Caen. In the centre, Auvergne tripe is served with pigs' trotters, Yummo! In Provence, it comes in a tomato sauce. If you are on a diet, tripe is excellent, as it contains very few calories.
Beef tongue is delicious served with mustard, garlic and parsley with a butter sauce. Served this way, it is called "a fake snail" as it tastes a bit like snails.
Tripes à la mode de Caen
The horse butcher's
Yes! French people do eat horsemeat and it can be delicious since it has the taste and texture of beef. This meat is cheaper than beef. You have to go to a horse butcher's - a "Boucherie Chevaline" - to buy it.
La boucherie chevaline
Last, but not least, wild mushrooms
The Black Diamond - Truffles. So called as they are the dearest mushrooms in the world and are sold at about $1,000 kg. The black truffle is the best known, and comes from Perigord in the South West. It is harvested in Winter, between November and February. Traditionally, pigs or dogs seek the underground fungi, among the roots of oak or apple trees, since truffles live symbiotically with these types of tree.
Les truffes
Mushrooms grow wild, in fields and woods but be careful! You have to know your mushrooms before you go to collect them in the wild.
Each year, several people die because of lack of knowledge. If you want to know if a mushroom is edible, you have to take it to a pharmacy so that the pharmacist can identify it. One edible mushroom is the MORILLE. However, be fareful, you have to cook them really well since they are poisonous when uncooked. Cèpes are a very tasty variety of mushroom, and you can find them in the wild, in woodlands.
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