September 15, 2008 |
Short Order
Where does a three star chef from England get live frogs? Heston Blumenthal, of the infamous bacon and egg ice cream and other provocative alchemy at
The Fat Duck in the Berkshires of England put in an SOS for live frogs to chef Joe Ng at
Chinatown Brasserie and consultant Eddie Schoenfeld. Ng bought a bucket of kicky beasts in Chinatown so Blumenthal could test his variation of a 15th century almond
blancmange, planning to replace chicken breast with frog in the recipe for his new television show,
Feast. (Seems you can’t buy live frogs in England. How civilized.)
Blumenthal, in town to deliver the keynote address at the annual Star Chefs stew in the Armory, hit the kitchen with a camera crew at 8 a.m. Ng, the Brasserie’s dim sum wizard, who does fabulous frogs' leg lollipops, wasn’t happy being nominated to kill the critters. Skinning them turned out to be even nastier, reports Schoenfeld. “I thought for a moment about becoming a vegetarian. It was a fleeting thought.” Joe had bought extras at $3.99 a pound (3 to a pound) for his own "Frog with Chestnuts Cantonese Style." CB’s new seasonal menu is coming up this week, but no one is sure frog will make the cut.
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