I love going to the Sunday market in the Vieux Lille (Old Lille) just to hear some of the conversations between vendors and customers. You get some fantastic recipe ideas and quite often, a good laugh. Here’s a prime example. The man in the photo is the fishmonger in question.
Scene: Place du Concert Marché, Lille
Sunday, January 6th at 12:15 p.m.
Distinguished Frenchman in his 50s: So, those are frog’s legs you have there (pointing to the muscular little thighs).
Salty, Tattooed Fishmonger: That’s right. How many you want?
Frenchman: Well, uh. There are seven of us so…
Fishmonger: Seven people, so you need, let’s see 5-7 thighs per head.
So, here’s how it goes. You make a court bouillon and blanch the thighs—you know, just to seize them and then…
Frenchman (obviously not a Cordon Bleu): Right, right court bouillon….um, do you sell that?
Fishmonger: Yeah, no problem. So you cook them in the court bouillon really quickly. Then, you take them out and then cook them in an escargot butter. So after that . . .
Frenchman: Escargot butter. Right, right. So that’s butter . . . (trying to look like he's just "forgotten" the recipe)
Fishmonger: Butter, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Finished. Oh, and to “lighten†it a bit, add some crème fraîche, you know, so the garlic doesn’t kill you.
Frenchman (repeating): Butter, parsley, salt, pepper . . .
Fishmonger: And a bit of garlic, but not too much oh, and a squeeze of lemon.
Frenchman: That’s butter, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic, lemon…and crème fraîche!
Fishmonger: You’re ready to go. Serve that with a salad and you’re all set.