I have become addicted to frog meat

By SOPHIA BARAKA

I have been eating frogs, but I will not tell anyone because people at home might ostracise me.  Everyone has a secret, I believe and this is one that I will die with.

There are many Chinese restaurants in Obama-land and one of their most expensive and tastiest dishes is frog meat. A complete meal of frog meat costs about Sh1,700. A plate of frogs in Tauco soup tastes so good that you will lick your hands for several days. Who ever thought frog meat could be so sweet, so wonderful, so enticing?

At first I used to despise frogs, especially considering the ugly vindictive croaking sound they make after heavy rains. My Biology teacher would hang them on the classroom cross in lessons that were meant to turn us into good surgeons in future. And during the election campaigns, politicians would disparage this amphibian at rallies, claiming its croak could not stop a cow from drinking water — in other words that it was useless.

Frog meat

Ever since I discovered frog legs, I have abandoned all other food. Actually, I had gone to treat myself to fried rice and sweet and sour pork, when this aggressive Chinese waiter convinced me to eat their latest delightful, mouth-watering dish.

He called it, “Cruisses de grenouilles” — a French word for the legs of a frog. My aunt Fidelis, who had travelled all over the world, had once warned me to be wary of sophisticated names put on the menu in hotels. But I went against my better judgement in an attempt to impress the waiter and just out of mere curiosity. That is how I ended up securing a taste for frog meat. And now I am an addict.

But I have nothing to lose anyway. Frog legs are rich in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin A and potassium. These are signs of good health. I have been told that America has its own frogs called Bull Frogs. Residents of Southern California have, however, eaten their local frogs so much that they are believed to be near extinction. Now they import frogs from China, Indonesia and Thailand.

 I can’t wait to grill some frog legs and enjoy them with some ugali and kachumbari.

Nobody should really blame me for eating frogs. I am just a believer in — when in Rome, do as the Romans do. I will savour the taste of frog meat as long as I am in America.

Yet as much as I truly love this frog dish, I must confess that nothing beats mbuzi choma and homemade kachumbari. The thought of it makes me nostalgic.