The first time in my life I have eaten snails I was about 20 when a boyfriend invited me into a restaurant and ordered something for me "as a surprise" I was and am always curious about plates I don't know and was happy about the surprise !
The starter was a plate looking like mushrooms but rather strange because they had a snail shell around. My boyfriend told me that these were snails and a gourmet plate for connoisseurs. They were served on a special metal plate and I especially liked the sauce with a lot of garlic, parsley in butter. With a nice piece of fresh french bread it really tasted good.
Unfortunately during the night I had a dream (or rather a nightmare) I dreamed that all snails crawled out of my mouth alive !! and without parsil and garlic ! So for a while I had enough from snails.
On fairs and festivals sometimes on markets already prepared snails are sold. I found these on the Waterloo Farmers market.
But later when we were invited for supper there were very often snails served as startes. Fortunately I had forgotten my awful dream and enjoyed them. We even got a snail service for our wedding.
My snail service. Dishes with hollows to place the snail, a tong to hold it and a fork to pull it out of the shell.
Unfortunately one day when we had snails at a friend's, Mr. G. told me about his childhood memories from Italy when his mother collected snails from their garden and put them in a wooden box for a week so they would fasten and empty their intestins. Then they were washed, thrown in boiling water and cooked. So for him it was a completely ordinary plate which on top was very cheap so they ate it quiet often ! Nothing to do with gourmet or connoisseurs !
From that day on I couldn't eat snails anymore. I always thought about the wooden box full of snails which emptied their intestins and the boiling water where the poor things were thrown in alive !
Now I replace the snails with big mushrooms and the same sauce and it is delicious !
I had my first snail dish when I was 30. I paid for the meal as it was a treat for a couple of foreign guests.
ReplyDeleteSadly there wasn't a boyfriend who appreciates snail and could afford to treat me to snails. :P
NO! I never have and never will eat snails. There might be a trendy restaurant in Sydney that has snails on the menu but I'm sure I could never eat them.
ReplyDeleteI don't even have snails in my garden as I am surrounded by too much salt water from ocean and lake.
I never have and never will!! Husband and son love them, I let them enjoy the snails in restaurants while I eat "faster" delicacies :)
ReplyDeleteI have heard people around here gather those garden snails, just like your friend described it...and by the way, we haven't had any in our garden in the past years...strange...!
i love snails and have eaten quite a few .I love frog legs too.I never new they had to relieve of their intestinesIf anything I would put them on spinach leaves for a week Then when I know they are full of good stuff I would freeze them and then put them in salt water to boil slowly.then I'd put them into the dishes and cover them with butter garlic and cheese.This way you get your meat and veggies at the same time
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to cook them but if you begin to think you wouldn't eat anything.lol
When I was a carnivore, I ate very little red meat, but loved fish and seafood. And if we ate out, and it was on the menu, I ate snails. Very, very nice. Ours in SA is always served with slices of soft, fresh brown bread. Have a great day. Jo
ReplyDeleteI had snails when I was in Paris.
ReplyDeleteI had it once... And the only taste I could feel was the sauce, I tend to think of it was a garlic flavoured chewing gum... :)
ReplyDeleteOkay, maybe I was not at the right place or something...
But it is also strange to me to eat stuff that is boiled alive. I can't do it. I used to enjoy a crab snack on the beach back in Brazil, nowaydays I wouldn't be able to...
God bless you!
Cezar
I have never eaten snails but when my nanna was alive she would eat the snails exactly the way Mr G used to. When I was little I would help her collect snails to put into a net (that's what they used here instead of the box).
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