Eating Snails: Yummy-ness at negligible cost

[suburban bushwacker]

It's that time of year again Helix aspersa or the common garden snail is out of hiding and on the move. Towards my dinner table.

The plateful in the picture were harvested (picked?) from a pile of unused border tiles in a wooded, but still inner-city (zone 2) London garden. I kept then in a lidded bucket and fed them on salad trimmings for two days which purged all the grit they had accumulated from their natural diet. Then they were fed for two days on white bread. The bread passing through the snails and staying white, tells you the purge is complete. A lot of recipes say you only need to purge them for twenty four hours but my 'white bread test' reveals that it's not quite long enough.

Boiled, rinsed and boiled again (approx. 5-10 changes of water) until the slime and froth were gone. Stuffed back into their shells with a dab of parsley, garlic and butter. I baked them until I could stand the deliciousness of the smell no longer. Served with rustic bread to mop up the melted butter. Yummy.

More soon
SBW

 

[Samon]

Haha brilliant! Reminds me of the winkles I used to get from Weston Super Mare beach!

How good were they??

 

[John Fenna]

Interesting purge!
I am afraid that I am not a fan of snails - or indeed shelfish - but that purge system could well make them more attractive
I agree that the taste (mainly garlic butter from my experience with commercial snail eating) is fantastic and I love Mushrooms a L'escargot - but the texture of the meat and the faff involved just puts me.
A great survival rescource but otherwise I will leave the snail eating to the French!

 

[suburban bushwacker]

Cheers John - I still cant believe I'm the only person to have thought of the white bread purge
They are a right Faff - but something to do while you're waiting to be rescued, strangely I've met several girls who were very impressed by them.
Cheaper than a Ferrari

 

[suburban bushwacker]

PS If you do fancy eating snails Roman snails are very good eating,
but while plentiful in the french countryside are endangered here

Picture from UKSAFARI.com

 

[m.durston]

rather you than me mate! saying that my missus cant stand the smell or sight of crayfish meat so looking at those slimy delicasies i know exactly how she feels. i think i'll die curious when it comes to trying any lol

 

[Samon]

the taste is very nice when done properly, the winkles (sea snails) they sell on beaches aren't great but fun to eat..bit girtty as they don't clean/purge them very well.

people don't eat woodlice much either but they are good eatin', they go pink after a boil/fry and taste a bit fishy too!

 

[Totumpole]

How would you go about purging a winkle? I dont know what they eat.
Great idea with the sanil purge! I have been meaning to try it aswell. Had previously heard of feeding them carrot untill it was all just orange, but i suppose white bread is easier to pick up any kind of taint.
Ive only had snails in restaurants, they look horrendous, but taste devine.
Cheers for sharing.

 

[suburban bushwacker]

My understanding is that you can purge sea foods by leaving them in a bucket of sea water
You'll see a little pile of sand form at the bottom of the bucket, telling you its time to change the water
keep changing the water until hunger/curiosity gets the better of you
SBW

 

[Husky]

Just a thought, do you get more calories from the snails then from the sallad sandwich you lost to purging?

 

[suburban bushwacker]

possibly

 

[Grendel]

Didn’t realise you could eat UK snails?

 

[suburban bushwacker]

Have done for the last few summers, still alive
Unless I'm an outrider for the zombie apocalypse and just hadn't noticed

 

[Samon]

Didn’t realise you could eat UK snails?

you can eat pretty much anything in Britian with a shell mate, sea or land! I think nearly all our seaweed is edible too..but don't slap me if you get ill

 

[andybysea]

Just co's you can dont mean you should! the thought of any shellfish (well apart from lobster which was ok)makes me gag,tried limpet's once NEVER again,and i think id rather starve than try snails. They would defo be very low on my survival food list.

 

[blacktimberwolf]

The purging is also to remove any toxic plants the snails may have ingested. To answer Husky's question, there are very few calories in the snails themselves, but first class protiens.The colories added by the butter, far out weigh those of a few salad leaves & a bit of stale bread.used for the purging...... Some cynics say that the snails are really just an excuse to eat garlic butter !......In France they have snail farms.

I've also had a few earthwom stir fries in my time too.

 

[suburban bushwacker]

Some cynics say that the snails are really just an excuse to eat garlic butter !.

Shhh don't tell anyone

 

[Rebel]

I'm no fan of snails and preparing them is a lot of trouble in my opinion. I guess they are okay baked with garlic, butter and parsley. If the chips were down and I desperately needed the protein then I'd got to the trouble of preparing them. I don't care much for shellfish either. I'm not squeamish about eating different types of food, I've eaten just about everything on my travels, quite a few things that I wished I hadn't.

 

[Geoff Dann]

PS If you do fancy eating snails Roman snails are very good eating,
but while plentiful in the french countryside are endangered here

Picture from UKSAFARI.com

It is illegal to kill "Roman" snails in the UK.

Recent evidence suggests they are native, rather than being brought here by the Romans. If you are lucky enough to live in a part of the UK where they can be found then they should be admired for their beauty, not eaten. There were loads where I grew up on the ridge of the north downs in Surrey, but I've never seen one anywhere else in the UK.

 

[Samon]

never seen a roman snail, looks pretty. prettier than those giant african snails I owned as a kid..