Snail: Encyclopedia II - Snail - Snails as Food

Snail - Snails as Food

Snails are eaten as food in some parts of the world. Although escargot is the French word for "snail", escargot on an English menu is generally reserved for snails prepared with traditional French recipes.

In Europe, three species are ordinarily eaten:

• Helix pomatia, the Burgundy Snail, prepared in its shell, with parsley butter.
  • Typical size: 40 to 55 mm for an adult weight of 25 to 45 g.
  • Typically found: in Burgundy.

• Helix aspersa :
  • Helix aspersa aspersa also known as the European brown snail,

is cooked in many different ways, according to different local traditions.

• • • Typical size: 28 to 35 mm for an adult weight of 7 to 15 g.
    • Typically found: Mediterranean countries (Europe and North Africa) and the French Atlantic coast.
  • Helix aspersa maxima .
    • Typical size 40 to 45 mm for an average weight of 20 to 30 g.
    • Typically found: in North Africa.

Achatina fulica, a giant African snail, is sliced and canned and passed off on some consumers as escargot.

Snails are also popular in Portugal, where they are called "caracóis" (Portuguese for "snails"), and served in cheap snack houses and taverns, usually boiled with garlic.

Hélicicultures are snail farms. http://www.weichtiere.at/Mollusks/Schnecken/weinberg.html found at the previous link, "In nature they almost everywhere are put under protection (at least the Roman snail must not be collected any more), but especially the Roman snail and the garden snail (Cornu aspersum) are cultivated on snail farms (Hélicicultures). "

http://www.weichtiere.at/Mollusks/Schnecken/land/weinberg/zucht.html

Various snail species are also eaten in asian cuisines as well.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Snails as Food", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki