phil@amdcad.UUCP (Phil Ngai) (10/28/85)
There seem to be many snails around my house and this year, instead
of trying to poison them I am going to collect them and eat them.
Any advice on how to do this? I suppose I ought to feed them a known
diet for a while to get all the bad stuff out. What is recommended?
Can I just feed them lawn clippings? My lawn hasn't had any chemicals
applied in months so it is pretty clean. What about things like banana
peels, apple cores, carrots, tree leaves, etc? How long do I have to
put them on a cleansing diet?
And how do you cook them? Just fry them in garlic butter?
By the way, I have found the best way to collect the ones that are
really stuck is to twist them around and they come right off. Just
pulling on them can crack the shell or rip part of the foot off.
--
The Miami Police Department's Vice Squad has an annual budget of $1.5M.
Each episode of the TV show "Miami Vice" costs $1.6M.
Phil Ngai +1 408 749-5720
UUCP: {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra}!amdcad!phil
ARPA: amdcad!phil@decwrl.dec.comwfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly) (10/28/85)
In article <5410@amdcad.UUCP> phil@amdcad.UUCP (Phil Ngai) writes: >There seem to be many snails around my house and this year, instead >of trying to poison them I am going to collect them and eat them. >Any advice on how to do this? I suppose I ought to feed them a known >diet for a while to get all the bad stuff out. What is recommended? Here's how my Sicilian relatives used to do it (my grandpa's name before Ellis Island was Biagio Ingoglia; how much more authentic do you want? :-): Put them in a container with moist leaves for a few days. Sprinkle occasionally with a little water to make sure they don't dry out. Feed them cornmeal to clean out their systems. When the day of reckoning comes, cull out the dead snails and put the live ones in a pot of salted water for a couple of hours before you're going to cook them. This will act as a laxative and clean out their systems. Rinse them WELL after this and dump them into a fresh pot of boiling water. They only cook for a few minutes; I can't remember the exact number of minutes, but I'm sure Joy of Cooking or some other readily accesible cookbook will have a recipe. You should be aware that snails can eat toxic plants without ill effect, so a purging period is NECESSARY. I would still feel uneasy eating wild snails due to pesticides, etc. Snails aren't long distance travelers, though, so you're probably safe eating them from your own back yard. We served them with tiny forks, crusty Italian bread, and a delicious sauce made of olive oil, vinegar, fresh mint and garlic. As a kid, I thought the sauce was the best part. I don't have a recipe but it shouldn't be too hard to duplicate. Mamma mia! -- Cheers, Bill Ingogly
ems@amdahl.UUCP (ems) (10/29/85)
> There seem to be many snails around my house and this year, instead > of trying to poison them I am going to collect them and eat them. > > Any advice on how to do this? I suppose I ought to feed them a known > diet for a while to get all the bad stuff out. What is recommended? > Snails reflect the flavor of what they have been eating. The best 'cleansing diet' is one that is bland. Such as corn meal. Also be aware that snails can eat some plants that are poisonous to people. Be especially careful with any snails that have grown up near poisonous plants, as the toxin in them may do you in. Cleans them really well. A week or two should be ok, but get an experts advice first. Also, I stepped on a snail a year or two ago and got one horrible case of 'atheletes foot'. It was a different fungus than the usual and was *VERY* hard to get rid of. Seems that snails can harbor many different and *NASTY* fungi. Be careful with them little buggers. (But eat a few for me, revenge is sweet!) -- E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems 'If you can dream it, you can do it' Walt Disney This is the obligatory disclaimer of everything. (Including but not limited to: typos, spelling, diction, logic, and nuclear war)
dxp@houxf.UUCP (POND SCUM) (10/29/85)
As the husband of someone who recently discovered the pleasures
of escargot(sounds so much more wholesome) I doubt the wisdom
of raising ones own snails for basically two reasons.
1) Escargot as served in restaurants are one PARTICULAR
species of snail. Why one one species is used, I don't
know but will do a little research and get back to
you.
2) With not a great deal of effort you can find canned
snails at about half the large supermarkets around
here( Monmouth County, NJ) for about $ 2.50 - $ 3.50
per dozen. They are usually found in the gourmet foods
or deli sections of the supermarkets.
As a variation of the normal way of serving escargot (in garlic butter)
I love this one.
2 oz butter (preferably unsalted)
1 teaspoon of Pernod ( other anis liqueurs may suffice)
1 shallot diced
This will make enough butter sauce to cook half a dozen escargots.
If you don't have a ceramic escargot thingy use a poaching pan
to cook them or sautee them in a small frying pan.
A can of escargots in our house lasts about 10 minutes after we return
from grocery shopping, so we generally buy 2 or 3 cans so that we can
have some around for a snack during the week.
Dave Peak
@ ihnp4!hotel!dxp
"All the net's a stage and all the men and women merely ham actors !"
- Rev Peak (apologies to Bill S.)dxp@houxf.UUCP (POND SCUM) (10/29/85)
THE GOOD SNAILS -
Generally eaten snails come from the helix aspersa and helix pomatia species,
this due primarily to the fact that throughout history(read tradition) these
species have proved to have been a) easy to raise b) non toxic to humans
c) are large enough to be economically gathered.
The above species are traditionally a european based LAND snail, although
they are now widespread across north america. Salt water
snails include abelone,conch,winkles etc are a large cash crop.
There are other edible land snails especially from Africa & Asia but do not
appear to be a cash crop outside their cultivating region.
THE BAD SNAILS -
Generally these are water snails and most that "we" come into contact
with are the freshwater snails, somewhat of a misnomer as they tend to inhabit
slow to non-moving water locations. What Michael Smith described seems to be
similar to swimmers itch caused by parasites trying to invade the human body
and the itch/rash is the result of the interaction of the human body repulsing
the invasion. There are other "bad" snails, hopefully we'll never cross their
path.
On a closing note the largest snail known is an australian marine snail that
measures 2 feet across it's shell. Hope that baby is edible, yum,yum !
Dave Peak
@ ihnp4!hotel!dxp
"All the net's a stage and all the men and women merely ham actors !"
- Rev Peak (apologies to Bill S.)wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (10/30/85)
One thing that I have not seen in the responses to the initial snail-eating posting: Are domestic American garden-varieties of snails safe to eat at all? Do they taste the same as the fancy French varieties, which are, I believe, raised commercially as opposed to being harvested from the wild? I would suspect that eating wild snails is somewhat akin to eating wild mushrooms -- you can do it, and you may get by OK, but you really shouldn't do it unless you know EXACTLY what you are doing. Maybe the risks involved with mushrooms are far greater than with snails -- hopefully, with the latter the only ill effect of eating the wrong ones will be a poor-tasting dish and the waste of the other ingredients. But I keep thinking of schistosomiasis (I spelled that correctly BEFORE looking it up! Where's my prize? :-), and suchlike snail-borne parasitic infections, and would hesitate to ingest an "untested" snail. (I have eaten snails, so this is not just unreasoning anti-snail fear. I've had some that taste like mud, and others tht tasted great. Best were in a little restaurant in Menlo Park, CA, called Le Pot-Au-Feu -- anybody know if it still exists?) Will
kanner@tymix.UUCP (Herb Kanner) (11/01/85)
The discussion of snail species and questions as to the edibility of the common (California) garden snail makes me wonder where all of you were during the years I was exposed to the following legend: The legend has it that some frenchman, around the turn of the century, or perhaps earlier, imported a couple dozen live snails of the edible variety from France in order to breed them for food. Unfortunately, a few escaped. Being a foreign variety, they had no natural enemies here and took over the west coast and are now the common California garden snail. Please don't flame me if this is total BS. I can't even remember the source of the legend any more. -- Herb Kanner Tymnet, Inc. ...!hplabs!oliveb!tymix!kanner
asente@Cascade.ARPA (11/01/85)
In article <2604@brl-tgr.ARPA> wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) writes: >One thing that I have not seen in the responses to the initial >snail-eating posting: Are domestic American garden-varieties of snails >safe to eat at all? Do they taste the same as the fancy French >varieties, which are, I believe, raised commercially as opposed to being >harvested from the wild? I have read several times (in newspaper articles and the like) that the common snails we have in the SF Bay Area are *identical* to French snails. Unfortunately I don't have any hard references on this. All seemed to stress the importance of feeding them yourself for a while to clean out their systems. (on lettuce, not cornmeal as someone suggested--cornmeal is for clams) >(I have eaten snails, so this is not just unreasoning anti-snail fear. >I've had some that taste like mud, and others tht tasted great. Best >were in a little restaurant in Menlo Park, CA, called Le Pot-Au-Feu -- >anybody know if it still exists?) Sure does. -paul asente asente@SU-Cascade.ARPA decwrl!Glacier!Cascade!asente Anyone for banana slug recipes? No, I thought not...
geoffs@brl-sem.ARPA (Geoffrey Sauerborn ) (11/04/85)
> ... from France in order to breed them for food. Unfortunately, > a few escaped. Being a foreign variety, they had no natural enemies > here and took over the west coast and are now the common California > garden snail. > I saw a documentary once that showed how California fruit growers battled snails by releasing a species of snail about their fruit trees which preys on other snails.
pete@octopus.UUCP (Pete Holzmann) (11/06/85)
According to an article in Sunset Magazine, (May 1979 Central Edition, April
1979 Desert/Southern Edition), snails *were* imported from France to
California, they did get out of control, and the 'common garden snail'
in most of California *is* the escargot snail.
Reference is made to a 74 page paperback book, published in 1978 by a
firm in Santa Rosa (see below) : Escargots from your garden to your
table, by Francois Picart. You can order it from the publisher, or it
may be in local bookstores.
As of the article date, "F. Picart Snails", 1550 Ridley Ave., Santa Rosa,
Calif. 94501 was buying garden snails for $.25 per pound (about 50-80
mature snails). They then sell them as escargot (for a lot more money!).
--
OOO __| ___ Peter Holzmann, Octopus Enterprises
OOOOOOO___/ _______ USPS: 19611 La Mar Court, Cupertino, CA 95014
OOOOO \___/ UUCP: {hplabs!hpdsd,pyramid}!octopus!pete
___| \_____ Phone: 408/996-7746phil@amdcad.UUCP (Phil Ngai) (11/13/85)
I got a lot of responses to my inquiry about eating
Californian backyard snails, with quite a few requests for a summary.
Some of the information looks pretty good so I'd like to share it with
you. Although I haven't explicitly asked for permission to repost, I
have stripped off headers and I don't think anyone will mind. Spelling
and grammer have been corrected to the best of my ability. Thanks to
everyone who wrote.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Commercial snail growers raise them on cornmeal for a time
(two weeks, I think) before slaughtering them. That gets rid of the
gamey taste. You don't fry them, you sautee them.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Someone actually gave a talk here on how to raise snails for
eating. I forget the exact details but there are some things that I
do remember.
1. She said that you should feed them lettuce for some period of time
whose length I can't remember. This helps flush out any nasties that
they may have eaten.
2. You should make them fast for about a week. This is so that their
digestive system gets cleaned out (so that when you eat them you
aren't eating their fecal matter).
3. She said that you should blanch or parboil them (before using them
in your recipe) and then you can use a tiny fork to pop them out of
their shells.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Feed 'em corn meal. That's what they feed the slugs that get
eaten at the annual slug festival somewhere in Northern CA. I think
you should probably feed 'em corn meal for about a week before
slaughtering the poor innocents.
----------------------------------------------------------------
<Raising> snails (as opposed to collecting them) is actually
fairly tricky. They get all kinds of diseases in captivity and
building an enclosure that they will thrive in while not being able to
escape is not easy. I believe lettuce is the classic food. I suspect
that grass is not as good. Apparently, what you feed them makes a big
difference in the taste....
----------------------------------------------------------------
What the French do is take snails and place them in a box with
flour on the bottom for a few days. I wouldn't recommend doing it
with wild snails, though; they may carry parasites. Call UC Ag
extension for RELIABLE advice...
----------------------------------------------------------------
I looked briefly for an article I had on the subject from
Mother Earth News or somesuch about 3 years ago-no luck but if it
shows up I'll send more details. From memory--they fed the snails
cornmeal for a few days, although they also mentioned that in France
they sometimes feed them exotic leaves such as tarragon (presumably
you spice your escargot thoroughly in this manner).
----------------------------------------------------------------
Having lived in a neighborhood where snails were abundant and
money was not, our neighbors (no I did not try this but I watched
them!) used to put the snails in cornmeal filled aquariams.
Apparently, snails like cornmeal and it gets rid of the bad stuff.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Hi. I just read your request for information concerning the
preparation of snails in net.cooks. The food section of the San Jose
Mercury News, dated 21 August 1985, is practically devoted to this
topic (well, two or three articles).
Basically, what you want to do is to keep the snails in a fine mesh
cage and feed them cornmeal and chopped lettuce or other greens until
they are about 1 to 1-1/2 inches in didameter.
When you're ready to eat them, the snails must be purged. To do this
place about 1/2 inch of damp cornmeal in the bottom of a container
(plastic box, metal pan, etc.). Then place the snails in the
container and cover it with a ventilated top (cheesecloth or nylon
netting). Keep the container in a cool, shady area and let the snails
purge themselves by eating the cornmeal for at least 72 hours.
If you want to keep them in their container longer, replace the
cornmeal every other day. Use only active snails, discard inactive
ones. Wash the snails throughly to remove the cornmeal.
The following recipe gets the snails to the point you find when you
buy canned snails. These, of course, are fresher and not rubbery.
BASIC SNAIL PREPARATION
8 dozen live purged snails
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, stuck with 4 whole cloves
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1/2 bottle dry white wine
1 bunch fresh thyme
1 bunch fresh parsley
4 stalks celery with leaves
1 tablespoon coarse salt
20 grinds of a pepper grinder
Wash live snails and place in a pot. Cover with cold water and bring
to a boil. Remove snails and rinse in cold water. Using a tweezer,
remove snails from shells. Wash snails again in cold water and drain.
Place in heavy, non-aluminum pot and add the rest of the ingredients.
Add enough water to cover ingredients, and a quarter more. Bring
slowly to a simmer, skim the scum that rises to the surface. Cook
partially covered for 2-1/2 to 4 hours depending on the size of the
snails (a 4 hour snail will have a shell the size of a 50 cent piece).
Snails will be tender when done.
Cool snails in the cooking liquid and use in any snail recipe.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Joy of Cooking says:
"Only snail types that are sealed in their opercula before hibernating
are edible. If your snails are less privileged than the Roman ones, be
sure to let them fast for about 10 days to get rid of any possible
poisons they may have imbibed..."
X says that she's heard that feeding the little buggers corn meal
for that period of time will flush it out [and probably make 'em taste
a little better]. She also says "I've eaten snails and they have the
consistency of snot." I have also eaten them and I like garlic butter
so I don't care. It's more rubbery than snot (I am the veteran of many
a stupid little cold or allergy when I was an urchin). In any case,
you can probably boil the little buggers for a few minutes.
"Before cooking, scrub and remove the membrane which closes them.
Place in water to cover and add 1/2 cup salt or 1/4 cup vinegar for
every 50 snails. Change the water several times during this 3 to 4
hour soaking. then rinse in several waters until the slime is removed.
Blanch a\` blanc, page 493, 8 minutes. [can't quite find it, but this
looks like it: 1qt boiling water, 2tbs lemon juice, (2tbs water, 1tbs
flour &opt 3tbs chopped suet) (&opt an onion stuck with cloves,
celery, carrot or leek. multiply as necessary, of course.] After
draining from the cold water, place the snails in a court bouillon to
over, made with: 1/2 water or stock and 1/2 white wine seasoned with:
a boquet garni [3 or 4 sprigs parsley or chervil, 1/8 to 1/2 bay leaf,
2 sprigs fresh thyme &opt 1 leek, white portion only, &opt 2 cloves.
Place them inside several celery stalks and bind tightly with a white
string.], an onion stuck with cloves, two cloves garlic. Simmer gently
for 3 to 4 hours, depending on the size of the snails. After cooling
in the court bouillon, drain. Remove snails from shells. Cut off and
discard the black end. Dry the snails and shells in a cloth. Place a
dab of Snail Butter in each shell. [3/4cup butter, 1-2tbs minced
shallots, 1-2 well crunched garlic cloves &opt 1tbs minced celery, 1
tbs minced parsley, 1/2tsp salt, freshly ground pepper] Replace the
snails. Pack them firmly in the shell, so generously covered that only
the lovely green herbed butter is visible at the opening. You may
chill the snails for later use or bake them at once on a pan lightly
sprinkled with water in a 425F oven just long enough to get them
piping hot - a matter of a few minutes only. Have ready heated,
grooved, snail dishes. The shell holder has a spring in the handle
which allows you to regulate its viselike end to the size of the
snail. The long, closely tined fork is used with a slight twist to
remove the snail.
--
The California Lottery may be a tax on the stupid, but at least
some of the proceeds are used for education.
Phil Ngai +1 408 749-5720
UUCP: {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra}!amdcad!phil
ARPA: amdcad!phil@decwrl.dec.comrfc@calmasd.UUCP (Robert Clayton) (11/15/85)
> > The legend has it that some frenchman, around the turn of the century, > or perhaps earlier, imported a couple dozen live snails of the edible > variety from France in order to breed them for food. Unfortunately, > a few escaped. Being a foreign variety, they had no natural enemies > here and took over the west coast and are now the common California > garden snail. > > Please don't flame me if this is total BS. I can't even remember the > source of the legend any more. > -- > Herb Kanner > Tymnet, Inc. I read the same story in the PSA in-flight magazine within the last year or so. Bob Clayton GE Calma San Diego
rfc@calmasd.UUCP (Robert Clayton) (11/15/85)
> I saw a documentary once that showed how California fruit growers > battled snails by releasing a species of snail about their fruit trees > which preys on other snails. Yes they sell them in the nurseries out here. Killer snails, they call them. I guess my neighbor must have bought some, because I have started to find them in my garden. They seem to be effective. Before they arrived, no amount of snail bait seemed to stop the population explosion. It seems that snails are hermaphrodites. Any snail can bear the young. When two snails meet, they flip a coin so to speak and one plays the male role while the other plays the female role. In another encounter, they might reverse the role. This means if you have two snails in your garden you are certain to have many and soon zillions. Snail bait works for a while, but you soon breed a population with a high tolerance for the poison. I don't know if they are really immune, maybe they just get bored with the stuff. Anyway, it doesn't seem to work for long. Population reduction is the only effective method. If you see a snail, throw it in the trash. This is where the killer snails come in handy. They just keep feeding on the herd and prevent the population explosion. So far, they seem to working pretty good. Bob Clayton GE Calma San Diego