Peruvian frog juice

Q: What is red and green and goes 150 miles per hour?
A: A frog in a blender.

But what was once a grotesque schoolyard joke is actually a somewhat-common culinary practice in Peru. A froggie-smoothie, if you will.

For less than $1 you can sample a sweet milkshake that contains a pureed frog called, obviously enough, jugo de rana or 'frog juice.' It's a concoction guaranteed to provide strength and vigor. Vendors in Lima insist it helps with athasma, bronchitis and other respiratory ills that are common in the humid winter of the capital.

Of course, as one would expect, the beverage is also purported to be a potent aphrodisiac and is often sold as "Peruvian Viagra" or something similar.

One purveyor of the delicacy in, Carmen Gonzalez, demonstrated her technique to an Associated Press reporter in May. After retrieving one of the small reptiles from an aquarium she bangs it on a tile to kill it and then deftly skins it.

After a quick parboiling, the frog is deposited in a blender with a hot white bean broth, honey, fresh cuttings of an aloe vera plant and several tablespoons of maca - an Andean bean.

Then... Salud!

The drink is more common in highland cities such as Huancayo and it's not hard to find a vendor in the Andean city of Cusco either, as this group of tourists discovered recently.

("It's not bad! Really.")


Find out more about Peru, South America and my varied interests over on Klephblog.

Technorati Tags: Peru, frog juice