There are some meals that are impossible to eat fast. Frog legs comes to mind when I think of a meal I had no choice but to consume slowly. The fact we were sitting in a sidewalk café in the Latin Quarter in Paris when my platter of frog legs á là Parisienne arrived at the table no doubt contributed to my willingness to sit still and savour my meal. The passersby - mostly tourists, provided an endless stream of entertainment as they stopped in the middle of the street, took photos, consulted maps, and perused the menus on display.

We had spent the morning poking around in the Latin Quarter and chatted happily about what we’d seen and where we might head after our late lunch. We looked at the photos we’d taken on our phones and flipped through a small guidebook I’d found that featured all the covered passages in Paris. It was easy to sit, relax, and enjoy the meal even though our day was full.

FOODIE FACT: Frog legs prepared in Paris-style are first boiled in water with lemon juice, salt and pepper. After they’ve been cooked and drained, they’re dipped in eggs, rolled in bread crumbs, and then fried. 

Impossible to Gobble a Frog Leg

The taste and texture of frog legs are vaguely chicken-esque, but what really slows a person down (beyond that fabulous Parisian ambiance) is the sheer number of small bones one encounters. There is no way to eat your way through a pile of frog legs except by using your fingers and proceeding slowly. 

I’m not sure I’ll have another plateful because I’ve since learned that the world’s appetite for frog legs has taken a serious toll on the world’s frog populations. What I will try to do, however, is not rush through my meals. Instead, these days I savour every mouthful in the way I savoured each delicate nibble I extricated from those tiny bones during that lovely afternoon in Paris. Too often, we rush through our meals, grabbing something on the go, not always taking the time to sit down and really enjoy each mouthful of our meal. 

One of my goals for 2020 is to slow down and take more time for food - whether that means putting on some music and preparing a meal in the kitchen at home or figuring out when and how to carve out time for a meal in a restaurant with someone (or several someones) whose company I enjoy. 

Here in the Bow Valley, we’re fortunate to have so many restaurants to choose from (have a browse through our online menus to see what’s available). If there’s something we enjoy as much as eating, it’s chatting about good food. We’re always eager to hear about your dining experiences - leave a comment and let us know where you love to go out and eat and why? What makes a really great meal? How do you make sure you find the time to share meals with those whose company you enjoy? 

If you haven’t already done so, make sure you join our local dinner clubs - we have one in Banff and one in Canmore. Watch for updates here in this blog as well as in our Facebook groups. You never know where we may be dining next, but one thing you can count on - we won’t be rushing through our meals!