When and if you find frog legs in Austin restaurants, they’re likely to be
eateries with a Cajun influence. Mandeville, Louisiana native chef Craig
Sullivan grew up gigging frogs in the bayous of southwestern Louisiana and then
frying up a mess of them at home. These days Sullivan is chef at the new
Bertram’s restaurant downtown at 16th and Guadalupe and features a more
sophisticated frog-leg preparation on his menu. Try the Louisiana Style Frog
Legs ($13.50) that are dipped in egg, dredged in seasoned flour, and fried.
Sullivan serves them with sun-dried tomato remoulade, sides of okra, and
tomatoes and scallion rice.
Elsewhere around town, frog legs will sometimes show up as off-menu
specials. Pappadeaux will charbroil them from time to time and the chef at
Gumbo’s on Bratton Lane says he likes to BBQ frog legs if they are tough, pan
fry them if they are tender. McGowan’s Cajun Kitchen chef/owner Billy McGowan
is considering a frog-leg dish for the menu in his relatively new Pflugerville
restaurant (1101 W. Pecan) where the legs are lightly fried in butter and then
finished by a 10-minute bake in the oven.
Evidently, development and habitat destruction have made the Louisiana
frogs of Sullivan’s childhood somewhat scarce. The frog legs commercially
available locally (through Groomer’s Seafood) are Taiwanese and packed IQF
(Individually Quick Frozen). – Virginia B. Wood
This article appears in September 15 • 1995 and September 15 • 1995 (Cover).