Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Snails, anyone?

These snails are alive and well and will cost you €4 per kilo at the greengrocer's "shop" in the photo below.

This shop is no more than a single, groundfloor room out of which a family has been selling their snails and other choice items for decades. I asked them for a snail recipe, but all they told me was to boil them till they slide out of their shells and then eat them straight. More elaborate recipes include sautéing them with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and cherry tomatoes.

Have you ever eaten snails?

13 comments:

USelaine said...

Oh my. I had snails to eat just once. My father's third wife was a "gourmet" cook, and prepared these for our first visit with them. I was about eleven years old, and I just sort of swallowed them whole. But the garlic butter they floated in was good. They were about the size of Tootsie Rolls, and I convinced myself that that was all they were. ;^)

Saretta said...

You're a braver soul than me, Elaine! ;-)

PJ said...

I've only had snails once and that was for a gourmet meal I made for my college dorm mates. I'm pretty sure that I used garlic butter as well. Mine came in a two part package, a can for the snails and a container for the shells.I wonder where you go to harvest snails?
USelaine, serving an 11 year old girl snails sounds a little suspcious to me, LOL. You were very brave.

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

My OH *loves* snails; his mom makes them in a tomato sauce as well, although I don't know the recipe. Yet ;)

marley said...

I've never tried snails and the thought makes me feel funny! Are they slimey?

Livio Bonino said...

I love the first one, well done!

Fern Driscoll said...

Haven't tried snails yet... they look like they want to be rubbery. I do, however, know a very stupid snail joke; the punchline is "Look at that S-car go!" boo.

USelaine said...

PJ - That marriage only lasted a couple of years, and I don't think I ever went to dinner there again. ;^)

Saretta said...

PJ - the snails are gathered in the countryside, usually after it rains, though it hasn't rained here for some time...

Michelle - it's true love when you're willing to learn your guy's favorite SNAIL recipe! LOL!

Marley - I don't know if they're slimey...I haven't got the courage to try them!

Livio - thank you!

Fern - it may be stupid, but it got a laugh out of me! S-car go...

Well Elaine, I'm sorry you had to live through an extra divorce, but what was she thinking serving snails to an 11 year old American girl? ;-)

Knoxville Girl said...

Never had snails, never plan to have them. But wait, that's more for you!

Kris McCracken said...

Yum! Lovely in garlic butter.

tr3nta said...

YES!!! And I love them...

Anonymous said...

So, what's wrong with serving snails to an American girl who's eleven years old? Underage in W's America?