Snails

The commonly eaten French snail is no different from what's found in our own gardens.

Thankfully, we've had a bit of rain these past few days and there are lots of snails on the move. If not, I give the garden a good dousing with water just before dark, wait an hour and go out with a torch. Walls, fences and around the gas meter and garden tap are all good places to look.

Snails can't be eaten right away, on the basis that you don't know what they've eaten. Hence the need to feed them up and then starve them to get rid of whatever's in their intestinal tract.

Presently, I have a dozen or so of Surrey's finest in their own snail Hilton where they can lounge about, gorge on gourmet leaves and otherwise chew the fat, blissfully unaware of my plans for their future: I'm thinking a gutsy stew of chick peas, chorizo, garlic, tomatoes, paprika and coriander would suit.

Meanwhile, some pictures...

Snail Hilton

A washing up bowl with vine leaves. Vine leaves are what the Burgundians - the innovators of snail cuisine - use to feed theirs:
















Ensuring they don't check out too early

I've fashioned a lid from a table, and weighted it down with some cans:

After 5 days of gorging I'll starve them for a further 3 days, give them a wash and throw them into boiling salted water for 10 minutes. They then need to be winkled out of their shells with a pin, tossed with a bit of salt, and rinsed. After this they're ready to use.

All this may seem like a faff, but I think the results are worth it. I only ever collect wild food that is worth eating in its own right: if anything needs expensive ingredients adding, or complex cooking then I can't be arsed with it.

For me, the idea behind foraging is to collect gourmet treats such as wild mushrooms to to use as 'taste adders'; or free direct substitutes such as nettle tops to use in place of spinach. Snails are somewhere between the two.

Done badly (as I've had them in the UK) snails can be rubbery and tasteless. Done well, in a garlicky tomato stew with chorizo and chickpeas, they're meaty and very flavoursome.

The results

Yum yum.















The recipe

Ingredients:

Snails, prepared as above
2 small chorizo sausages, diced
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 chilli, chopped
1 can chick peas
2 cans chopped tomatoes
Splash of red wine
Pinch of smoked paprika
Chopped coriander for serving

Method:

Fry the chorizo in a non-stick pan over a low heat until it's slightly browned and the fat is slightly rendered. Soften the onions and garlic in the rendered fat, and throw this and everything else into a slow cooker for 8 hours. Serve with the chopped coriander stirred in, and hunks of crusty bread to mop up the juices.