One of the highlights of a visit to Tasmania for many tourists is a visit to the Museum of Old and New Art - or MONA as it is called - eleven kilometres up the Derwent river from Hobart. That delivers a fascinating montage of experiences unlikely to be found elsewhere in the world, including a moving view of food being digested within the human body which culminates in the waste that drops in the toilet every morning.
Kirsha Kaechelle, wife of MONA owner David Walsh has just released a cookbook which explores the feasibility of using the dreaded Queensland Cane Toad as part of the food resources of what is becoming a hungry world. Surprisingly, the legs of this invasive monster are finding favour with many inventive world chefs despite the fact that the Cane Toad contains a poison gland that makes it deadly to carrion that consume the entire body.
In Asian cuisine, the deadly puffer fish needs very special cooking procedure to become the treasured meal that costs an absolute fortune where it is offered. The legs of the Cane Toad are safe when removed from the body and there seems no reason why they can not become an interesting food delicacy.
It might take a lot of inventive presentation to convince Australian diners to actually eat part of a Cane Toad. Frogs legs are not as well regarded here as they are in France, as was this writers experience. It was at a new product presentation held in a nightclub atmosphere where finger food was circulating. Trays of what looked like mini chicken drum sticks were simply delicious until I noticed a sturdy central bone, unlike any chicken leg I had previously experienced. I was bemused, until a waiter asked if I wanted more frogs legs !
For a start, it might be a very good idea to drop that name " Cane Toad " and call them something else. " Olympic Chicken " comes to mind because it tends to explain away that large bone that seems to be part of the frog hopping ability. That lends itself well to illustrations of fat chooks engaging in weight lifting and other Olympic activities usually performed by very heavily built competitors.
These Cane Toads were a mistake of monumental proportions made here in 1935 to combat beetles that were ravaging the sugar cane crops. They performed that function admirably in Hawaii but without natural enemies to control numbers they quickly got out of control and now they are fast invading other parts of this continent. Eventually, we will find them hopping about the streets of Sydney.
There is no reason why the legs of this invasive species can not become a food source for both local consumption and for export. The world population is heading to ten billion and global warming looks like reducing crop yields and flooding many growing areas.
The mantra of the future could well be. If you can't beat them - eat them !
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