FROGS IN FRICASSEE (Traditional Recipe) 

Serves 4

Frogs (as many as required)	A pinch of dried mushrooms
One finger of oil	Fish broth
A piece of onion	A spoonful of parsley
A small piece of garlic	One or two egg yolks
One finger of white wine	Flour as necessary
Salt and pepper to taste	Fried or toasted 'crostini' (slices of bread)

Method

Take the required number of frogs which have naturally been skinned and thoroughly rinsed. Remove the legs and put to one side in cold water. The rest of the carcass will be used to prepare the sauce. 

Put a finger of oil, a little finely chopped onion and a small piece of crushed garlic into a saucepan. Lightly fry the onion until it becomes transparent, then add a finger of white wine and once this has evaporated, add the frog carcasses, salt, pepper and a pinch of dried mushrooms. Add sufficient water or, if available, fish broth, cover and allow to boil over a medium heat for about an hour, so as to obtain a tasty and aromatic broth. 

Strain the quantity of broth required into a saucepan and discard any excess. Then dry the frogs' legs, cover in flour, place in the broth and, mixing regularly, allow to cook over a medium heat. Once finished cooking, add a spoonful of parsley to the sauce and, away from the heat, one or two egg yolks that have been mixed into a little water. Mix and keep hot, near the hob. In the meantime, fried or toasted 'crostini' should have been prepared. 

Place these onto the serving dish, then pour the frogs' legs with their sauce onto these, taking care that the sauce be neither too liquid nor too much, but fairly smooth and tasty, just covering the 'crostini'. As a variant, try mixing the egg yolks not simply with water, but adding the juice of half a lemon. 

The dish

Once considered a poor meal, today it is a great one. Times change, just as tastes do, and it is thanks to this that many traditional 'dishes' which were gradually disappearing from the Italian households, are now regaining popularity. Unfortunately it is not easy to find river frogs, which have an extremely particular flavour, full of taste, and which is not mimicked by reared frogs. It is this, in fact, which makes the difference. 

Wine accompaniment

This dish is a classic white wine dish, as it does not want the 'hardness' of the tannin to be found in red wines. The delicacy of such cuisine requires an equally delicate wine, one that is mature, harmonious, soft, smooth, only slight acidic and not very alcoholic, with a fairly dry and neutral flavour. 

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