This week I finally finished reading Salt: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky. You may recall that this book was on President Bush’s fake reading list. Before I put it on a shelf forever, I wanted to share this one nugget from page 377 of the paperback:

“Soaked frog” was a specialty for Zigong salt merchants. A few pieces of wood would be floated in a large jar of brine. Live frogs would be put in the jar, and they would desperately perch on the pieces of wood. The jar was closed and sealed. After six months, the jar would be opened, and the frogs would be dead and dried on the wood but preserved because they had dipped in the salt. They would then be steamed.

The inventor of this dish was either (1) very bored, (2) a sociopath, or (3) both. I only hope that the producers of Bravo TV’s “Top Chef” (AKA, “Edible Project Runway”) have not read this book.