A Little Snail History
In older days, cultures that celebrated Lent embraced the snail as food because it wasn't considered to be flesh or fish. It was sometimes recommended as a food for the poor and at other times it was considered a dainty morsel for the tables of the wealthy.
I've brought you some snail recipes and some stories about the snail. I hope you enjoy them!
Snail-Farming
Raising snails to eat
The ancient Romans appreciated snails. They imported choice varieties and set aside certain places for fattening the snails, providing them with a diet of bran, flour, and herbs, with a mixture of wine dregsPliny tells us that Fulvinus Hirpinus was the first to engage in snail-farming at Tarquinium about the year 50 B.C.
In Tyrol (a state of Austria) children were hired during the summer months to collect snails as stock for the snail gardens which were small plots of land cleared of trees, and covered with heaps of moss and pine twigs, and separated from each other by moats. The moats had gratings at the edges to prevent the snails from falling in the water and escaping. The snails were supplied daily with fresh grass and cabbage leaves, until they crawled into the moss heaps to sleep for the winter. In the spring they were packed into straw lined boxes and sent to market.
It is said that you should starve your snails for a few days before eating them in case they have been feeding on hemlock or some other poisonous plant. Unless, of course you are farming them and know what they've been eating.
Do you love snails?
Get your snail gear here!
Snail time Wall Clock
Price: 15.99 
Tile Coaster
Price: 6.50
Stripey Fairy/Fairy Ring -Tote Bag
Price: 15.99
Snail Katatsumuri Kids T-Shirt
Price: 23.99
I love Snails White T-Shirt
Price: 20.99
Snails as a Home Remedy
Snail Folklore
If you looked pale and thin you were told that a diet of live snails or slugs would cure consumption.
Adding snails to the diet was said to build up the constitutions of anemic persons and sickly children.
Snails were prescribed by physicians for a number of complaints, including asthma, dropsy, eye troubles, rheumatism and corns.
Slime of slugs and snails was counted a sure cure for eczema and most other skin ailments.
Snails were an accepted barometer. If they leave the vegetation and take to the bare rocks, or if they climb trees you may expect rain.
The snail was considered to be an invaluable remedy for warts. Here is the recipe: Procure a black snail and kill it, rub the wart with it once a day for a week, and carefully preserve the snail after each application. By the end of the week the wart will become dry and crumble away.
A Quote on Snails from An American Primary Teacher in 1897
Children like snails!
"I once had a honey jar with about twenty-five snails in it which delighted the children for weeks. Didn't you know snails were really interesting? Did you know that they will learn to know your call, or, rather, tap on the glass, and come up to the top of the water for you and not for a stranger? Oh, there's something even in a snail Jar!"
Water ~ by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527 - 1593)
A quirky portrait composed of seafood!
Title: Water
Artist: Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Buy at AllPosters.com
Framed Mounted
To prepare snails for a recipe
Live snails must be processed properly before cooking.
Before live snails can be used in recipes you must be sure that there is no food in them. Keep them in a container for at least four days before processing them. Some say to keep them from eating and some say to feed them oatmeal or carrots during this time so I'll leave that up to you.During their cleaning period, put the snails in a container where they can get plenty of air but not food. A net bag or a covered basket is good. Put them in a cool place out of the sun.
After at least four days have passed, put the snails in clean cool water with a little salt and vinegar. When the water turns very white remove the snails and discard the water.
Keep repeating this process until the water doesn't turn white and the snails will be clean.
Place the snails in boiling water with salt and vinegar and boil five minutes. Your snails are now ready to be used in recipes!
Are you ready for some snail recipes? I thought so.
Now they are Escargots!
This recipe is untitled so I'll just call it "ESCARGOTS"Work these ingredients into a fine paste:
butter
finely minced shallot
finely minced parsley
finely minced chervil
add an equal quantity of bread crumbs
add a wine glassful of white wine
season with salt and pepper
Work into a smooth paste.
Place some of this mixture into the shells, put the snails back in and cover with more of the paste mixture.
Dust with bread crumbs
Have the open part uppermost and set them in the oven until brown on top which should take about four minutes. Serve.
Escargot Shells
Perfect shells for your escargot recipe.
Escargot Shells by Chefshop.com
Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 01/05/2010)
How do you serve l'escargot without the shell? Well, you certainly can use mushroom caps, and they can be delicious that way, but if you want to stick to tradition, it's snail shells and herbed garlic butter all the way. We've got 12 re-usable snail shells here, and that's the perfect number for 2.
* Escargot Shells
* Delicate escargot shells
* Re-useable
* Traditional escargot shells
* Perfect amount for a party of 2!
Wear this snappy apron while preparing your snail recipes.
A great retro apron!
The Dorothy Apron $39.95
Product Information
A great looking black, white and red retro apron.
Garter and Gloves sold separately.
From the Get Go Retro website:
We are proud to offer Retro Aprons designed and produced exclusively by Carolyn West of Carolyn's Aprons. Retro aprons and glove sets are fun, sexy and all about feeling glamorous; these sets enhance the merriment of playing whimsical dress-up combined with the indulgent delights of naughty pin-ups. Featured in numerous media outlets, these apron sets are also sweet treats for yourself and fun gifts for mothers, sisters, daughters, and brides.
Periwinkle Snails
Or Sea Snails
PERIWINKLESSnails of the sea, feeding exclusively on seaweed and containing a small proportion of iodine.
Boil them in salt and water from twenty minutes to half an hour, according to size. They are eaten by pulling them out of their shells with a small fork, and they go well with a slice of bread and butter, or a glass of wine.
An old handbook on party catering says that periwinkles or sea snails are always served by themselves as a relish and never mixed into other dishes.
photo by: neurmadic aesthetic on flickr
Snails a la Poulette
Voila! Escargot again!
SNAILS A LA POULETTE
Melt some butter in a saucepan till it is hissing hot, add some flour and stir. Add some chopped onion. Add soup stock, white wine and some bouquet garni. Add your snails along with some salt, pepper and nutmeg. Let this cook on low heat for a half an hour, thickening with the yoke of and egg at the moment of serving.
SilverStone Saucepan, Tangerine
Perfect for cooking Snails a la Poulette
* Porcelain enamel exterior with nonstick surface
* Handle is oven-safe to 350 degrees F
* Covered by SilverStone's Quality Assurance Guarantee
* Available in Aqua, Tangerine, Kiwi, and Banana
SilverStone2 East Main 2-Quart Covered Saucepan, Tangerine
Amazon Price: (as of 01/05/2010)
A saucepan, one of the workhorses of the kitchen, is used for everything from cooking sauces or rice,OR SNAILS, to re-heating soup or chili. The nonstick cooking surface means you don't need to worry about food sticking or about scrubbing dirty pans - cleanup is a breeze. Individual 2-quart saucepan with lid Porcelain enamel exterior with nonstick surface Handle is oven-safe to 350 degrees F Covered by SilverStone's Quality Assurance Guarantee
Roland Giant Snails
7.75-Ounce Cans of Snails (Pack of 12)
Roland Giant Snails (12 Count), 7.75-Ounce Cans (Pack of 12)
Amazon Price: $26.22 (as of 01/05/2010)
If you love snails then this is for you. Twelve cans of escargot snails, already cleaned and cook and ready to use in your recipes.
* Case of nine 7.75-ounce cans of escargot snails (69.75 total ounces)
* Carefully cleaned, well-cooked and tender extra-large snails; packed without shells
* Serve in shells, plates, or in mushroom caps
* Rinse snails in cold water or soak or simmer in wine to enhance flavor
* Packed in France
How to harvest snails from your own back yard.
And turn them into escargot!
- Garden Snails as Escargots-recipes
- This is an article in Sunset Magazine from May 1988. A great discussion on how to harvest snails from your own back yard and make them into escargot. They are the same snails you pay a lot for in a fancy French restaurant so why not?
Following that are some instructions on how to prepare snails for cooking and then, some recipes! Check it out.
Slugs and Snails (Minibeasts)
A snail book for kids ages 4-8.
I hope you enjoyed reading about snails
- Rate this lens:
- Email it
- Favorite it
- Lensroll it
Do you love snails? Hate them? Indifferent?
Maybe you have never tried snails.
What's the skinny on snails as far as you're concerned? Let me know.
-
Reply
- AndyPo AndyPo Sep 29, 2009 @ 5:44 am
- Very interesting. I often eat snails in French restaurants, but I have never cooked them myself.
-
Reply
- cayoblues@aol.com cayoblues@aol.com Jul 10, 2009 @ 10:44 pm
- They give a flavor to Linguine unlike any other type "seafood-like" taste. I'm speaking about the common backyard land snail. The only problem I've ever had was finding them. As a child, my family made them all the time with a big piece of very crunchy Italian or French bread. You prepare them like mussels, clams, calamari etc. Very easy to make and quick too. Check it out, your in for the culinary treat of your life!!!
ps; are they live commercially, I'd really love to know.
-
Reply
- Swisstoons Swisstoons Apr 9, 2009 @ 10:39 am
- That is one tantalizing lens title. And a lot of fun to read. I have never eaten a snail. And if it ever came down to it, I am not entirely sure I could. But you have got me curious with that part about harvesting them from one's own backyard. I am going to pass this information along to people I know who have gardens and see if I can talk them into eating them. Should be fun (watching them, I mean).
-
Reply
- kayode kayode Mar 13, 2009 @ 4:52 am
- I need to improve on the animal house of the research agency where i work. Now I want to go into heliculture. For now I've got some information on the art of rearing. I just some professional advise to keep me encouraged and going
-
Reply
- Greekgeek Greekgeek Mar 2, 2009 @ 6:12 am
- Very interesting! (And thanks for the visit to my sea hare lens)
I confess to a fondness for edible as well as wild snails, although I haven't had escargot in about 20 years. Who knows, maybe I'll use this lens to figure out how to harvest my garden pests -- which are definitely not native to southern CA!
5* for interesting and varied info. :)
-
Reply
- tandemonimom tandemonimom Dec 22, 2008 @ 9:26 pm
- At last, at last, I can stop worrying about being poisoned by the hemlock my hand-raised snails may have eaten! *whew* ;-) Thank you for an informative lens! 5*****
-
Reply
- The_Homeopath The_Homeopath Oct 24, 2008 @ 1:09 am
- Escargot is one of those foods that I'm just *meh* about. They taste fine, but I never get cravings for them. I did eat at a restaurant several years ago that did an excellent job with them, the garlic sauce was just perfect.
-
Reply
- Victoria_Neely Victoria_Neely Oct 4, 2008 @ 8:41 pm
- Snails are cute as long as they stay out of my garden. Keep your distance, snails, or I'll have a good excuse to find out what escargot tastes like...
-
Reply
- OldGrampa OldGrampa Oct 3, 2008 @ 6:09 pm
- Interesting lens. Whoever would have guessed that snails were used in so many ways?
-
Reply
- ebay-grandma ebay-grandma Sep 16, 2008 @ 7:40 am
- I'm not so sure if I want to eat them or not. Never heard of them as medical treatment. Lots of information and great lens. *****
- Load More
by stargazer00
Explore related pages
Small Blenders & Single Serving Smoothie Recipes- I never thought I would love a blender this much! I actually bought the Hamilton...
Home Heart Strings- Welcome to Home Heart Strings. Our blog covers everything about house and home....
Recipe Book Online- How an online recipe book took me from almost burning down my kitchen trying to...
Delicious Oyster Recipes - When I was a child our Christmas Eve tradition was to have oyster stew. All the...
Stir Fried Garlic Squid with Ramen, Recipe for Fresh Squid- Do you like squid? Oh dear! Maybe you ARE a squid. In that case turn your eyes a...
Shockingly Good Eel Recipes to Spark up your Cuisine - I've never tasted an eel. In fact I've never even seen one. They are not...
