Snails as Food

Snails in Cusine, Escargots

Early man all over the world consumed what they could for survival, and that often included the snail. In parts of the world including Rome snails were eaten on a very large scale. In fact, they were harvested so that there would be a huge supply of them all the time to meet the demand.

That desire to consume then hasn’t stopped there. They continue to be a huge industry for the restaurant business. Offering snails is a common offering for wedding receptions and other elaborate affairs. If you haven’t tried them the idea may not be very appealing to you. However, you may find that your taste buds are really impressed by them. After all, millions of people eat them and they can’t all be wrong!

It is no secret that many people find snails to be delicious as an appetizer or as a main course. There are plenty of well known recipes out there for making them and many people do so at home. Such dishes are common in many types of restaurants as well. For thousands of years this practice has been going on all over the world. You will find that these types of recipes for the dishes vary by country too. Without a doubt though the snail is widely distributed which means it is also widely consumed.

Escargot de Bourgogne

Photography:Wikimedia user Arnaud

For example in France they are often cooked in oil with garlic added for seasoning. They are very expensive in France though due to the fact that they consume them in such large volumes and the demand is often greater than what they can get their hands on. In Greece and Italy they are often consumed in sauces and poured over various types of pasta. The largest number of recipes are found in the United States where people create a variety of dishes. Many of them are spin offs from what is cooked in these other countries as well.

Escargot is the common name for snails when they are to be eaten. Millions of pounds of it are consumed around the world annually. In fact, there is even a day to celebrate it! May 24th is the National Escargot Day. It is believed that snails for eating were brought to the United States in the 1850’s. Some of them escaped though and it didn’t take long for them to be all over the place.

Many people viewed them as pests which is why they don’t have any problems eating them. Instead of paying money for them, they started to harvest their own from gardens and farms. In fact, some of the farmers in California were making a nice amount of money on the side by collecting the snails and selling them on the market along with their fruits and vegetables.

The most common type of snail used is the garden variety. If you have a garden and they are present you can trap them and process them yourself. This is a great way to take care of the problem you are having with the pests harming your fruits and vegetables. At the same time you can treat your family to a great appetizer or meal.

As a note of caution it is important to mention that you need to properly cook snails before you consume them. The failure to do so can result in parasites entering the body which have been linked to the development of meningitis. The failure to cook them properly can result in people becoming very ill with a type of food poisoning as well. When you buy snails to cook you need to keep them very cook so that bacteria won’t grow on them.

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