❶ Escargot - The Culinary Pride Of France

Snail meat was also eaten by cavemen, ancient Greeks and Romans feasted on it, giant snails were eaten with appetite in Africa for thousands of years, but it was the French who brought snails, or as they are called in France - escargot, the glory of an exquisite delicacy. Now snails are served in expensive restaurants, sold in gourmet stores chilled, frozen or smoked, Snails Day is celebrated and in France alone, 40,000 tons of these modest cephalopods are eaten annually. Location: Location:

Not all snails are created equal

In total, there are about 100 species of edible snails in the world. The most famous of these are the grape snail or Helix pomatia and the garden snail (Helix Aspersa in Latin). It is representatives of these two species that are popular in France "Petit Gris" and "Escargot de Bourguignon" snails. The last, Burgundy snail, also known as apple and Roman, is found not only in Europe, but also on the coast of the Baltic Sea.

It is a big mistake to think that if the snail is edible, then it can be eaten. It is not that simple. You can also get poisoned by such a snail if it has previously eaten something useful for it, but not acceptable as food for humans. That is why, having collected edible snails, you should not eat them immediately. We need to create special conditions for them, monitor their diet, arrange “fasting” days.

Snails on a diet

Farm-raised snails are placed in special boxes with grates instead of flooring a few days before being sold. These boxes are raised high above the ground and the snails in them are washed with running water every day for a week. During this time they are not fed at all or are given fresh green dill, which subsequently gives the snail meat a wonderful spicy aroma.

Snails caught in the wild are disgorged - they are placed in a box on a layer of salt, and the tiny cephalopod has to spew out all the contents of the stomach in the form of gray foam. The snails are washed and the procedure for cleaning their intestines is repeated. So they are kept for five to six days - without food, cleaning and rinsing.

Before being sold live, both snails are boiled in boiling water, removed from the shell, most often the digestive tract is removed and soaked in brine for 15-20 minutes. The shells of the snails are thoroughly cleaned from the inside and outside, sterilized and the cooked and pickled meat is returned to them. If the snail meat is smoked, then the shells are immediately thrown away. Meat in shells can be chilled, frozen, or made into a semi-finished product, for example by adding frozen "green" garlic oil to the shells.

What is the value of a snail?

The fact that snails are not cheap is understandable. But how valuable is he? Are escargot useful? Are they nutritious? Yes. Snail meat is 15% protein, 80% water and only 2.4% fat. Moreover, it has a very high content of useful linoleic and linoleic acids.

How are snails eaten?

Most often, escargot is served as a snack, but there are recipes where snail meat serves as an addition to pasta or vegetables. One of the traditional French recipes, Escargots à la bourguignonne or Burgundy snails, is very simple. It contains 1 kilogram of good unsalted butter, 25 grams of salt, 5 grams of ground black pepper, 150 grams of garlic cloves, 95 grams of shallots, 90 grams of parsley and 100 grams of granular French mustard. All herbs are finely chopped and added together with spices to softened butter. The snails are removed from the shells and put on the bottom a little "green" garlic-mustard oil, return the meat to its place and fill the remaining places with the same oil. The oven is heated to 200 degrees Celsius and the snails are baked for 10-15 minutes.

There is a special dish for serving snails - escargot, where each mollusk occupies its own cell. This metal dish usually holds half a dozen (6 pieces) or a dozen (12 pieces) snails. They eat snails with the same tongs and a fork as oysters.