Frog Autopsy

Serge et le Phoque in Hong Kong

One thing we like to do at Tasting Kitchen magazine is to do shoots where we first photograph some of the more interesting and key ingredients for dish and then run this photo along side the plated dish. This has worked wonderfully well for stories about such things as edible flowers, organically grown fruits and vegetables and locally sourced ingredients in places like Taiwan. However, I have discovered that when it comes to meat it’s often better not to show the raw ingredient since raw meat tends to lack a certain visual elegance. Take for example the photo above which shows a skinned and headless frog with its chest cavity opened like a cadaver in a CSI lab. This image, as well as all the images in this post, were shot on location at Serge et le Phoque in Hong Kong. This contemporary French cuisine restaurant creates some stunningly beautiful and tasty dishes. This frog was the first ingredient I shot that day and it basically set the tone for the entire shoot. Both myself and the restaurant’s co-owner, Charles Pelletier, thought the image looked cool so we marched forward with the rest of the ingredients. However, after processing the images and presenting the images to the TK team their combined reaction was a bit less enthusiastic. There was a general concern that readers may not find this too appetizing.

Here is the plated image…

Serge et le Phoque in Hong Kong

Next up was the pigeon. Unfortunately this too was considered a bit too graphic…

Serge et le Phoque in Hong Kong

But once cooked and plated it was quite lovely…

Serge et le Phoque in Hong Kong

The one set of raw meat ingredients that usually work out well visually is nearly anything that comes out of the water. Below is an octopus tentacle with some of the herbs and spices which help to complete the dish…