We were just finishing dinner al fresco when I spied these enormous snails (the shell was about three fingers wide) among the weeds after the rain.
Nous étions à la fin de notre repas dans le jardin lorsque j’ai vu ces énormes escargots (la coquille mesurait environ trois doigts) parmi les mauvaises herbes après la pluie.
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7 replies on “Snails at dinner – Escargots à la fin du dîner”
The snails we see here aren’t that big.
Did you get some garlic and parsley butter to season them? 😉
Lovely pic!
At that size, I think I’d lock the doors at night. Maybe I’ve seen too many horror movies in my youth. Anyway, what are you having for entrées tonight?
These are Roman snails, so Stuart is right. They are the original edible snail, introduced to this area by (I presume) the Romans, and now quite rare.
@William – see Susan’s answer
@Olivia – welcome to Blois Daily Photo and thank you for commenting. Please see my answer to Stuart and Susan
@Stuart & Susan – I didn’t realise they were so rare because we have quite a few. Our previous owners used to collect them when they went out walking and kept them in a sort of vivarium – a garden bed – which we now grow flowers in . They used to eat them. My sister-in-law in Burgundy cooks them and the process is very slow and laborious as well as a little cruel because you have to starve them for a few days before killing and cooking them. I have to say that it put me off them. I figure I can have just bread with the garlic and parsley sauce!
You don’t have to starve them. You can feed them oatmeal I believe. But you do ultimately have to kill them…
🙁 I didn’t know the process was that cruel! Always thought that they were dried out with salt (which, in retrospect, doesn’t sound any better…)