Escargots a l'ail For All the French RRs by sandra46
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Description
Snails with garlic butter, an appetizer I ate in a pretty restaurant at Riviere du Loup, Quebec.
An old British cliché parodies the French as a bizarre people who constantly eat frogs, snails, garlic, and truffles, a diet disgusting to the traditional English palate. These foods, however, are relatively uncommon on French menus, due to the cost in time (and money, as for truffles) involved. However, they are also eaten elsewhere in Europe, for example in Italy. What the English don’t know is that the Britons themselves once used to eat snails! I suppose that the anti-French culinary prejudice began during the propaganda war in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially during the Napoleonic period.
Escargot is a dish of cooked land snails, usually served as an appetizer. A number of archaeological sites around the Mediterranean have been excavated yielding physical evidence of culinary use of several species of snails utilized as escargot. In ancient Rome, snails were fattened up in cochlear gardens before they were eaten. The Romans, in particular, are known to have considered escargot as an elite food, as noted in the writings of Pliny. Pliny described the snail garden of Fulvius Hirpinus 2,000 years ago as having separate sections for different species of snails. The so-called Wall fish (snails) were often eaten in Britain, but were never as popular as on the continent. There, people often ate snails during Lent, and in a few places, at Mardi Gras or Carnival.
Because a typical snail diet includes decayed matter, carrion, and a wide variety of leaves, the contents of their stomachs can sometimes be toxic to humans. Therefore, before they are cooked, the snails are first prepared by purging them. The methods most often used can take several days. Farms producing Helix aspersa for sale exist in Europe and in the United States. Farm-raised snails are typically fed a diet of ground cereals. Perhaps the best known and most often cultivated land snail species is Helix pomatia,also known as the Roman snail, Burgundy snail or apple snail. According to some sources, the French imported brown garden snails to California in the 1850s, raising them as the delicacy escargot. Other sources claim that Italian immigrants were the first to bring the snail to the United States. These snails are now common throughout the U.S, and later introduced into other countries such as South Africa, New Zealand, Mexico, and Argentina. It is native to the shores of the Mediterranean and up the coast of Spain and France. It is found on many British Isles, where the Romans introduced it in the first century AD. Helix pomatia is also called the Roman snail, apple snail, lunar, la vignaiola, the German Weinbergschnecke, the French escargot de Bourgogne or Burgundy snail, or gros blanc. Helix aspersa is also known as the French petit gris, small grey snail, the escargot chagrine, or la zigrinata. Many prefer H. pomatia to H. aspersa for its flavor and its larger size, as the escargot par excellence.
Thank you for your kind comments and bon appetit!
Comments (32)
flora-crassella
nice image..... I ate this court lastly times before approximately 30 years. Best the garlic butter tasted to me ;-)
MagikUnicorn
Bonne Appétit
magnus073
Great work on this one Mickey as I enjoyed the photo and your history on it.
claude19
In France...we eat never as you have photographied the snails without shell...and we eat them with a special fourchette fork with two teeth !!! SPLENDID shot objectively !!!
DAVER2112
I painted an 'S' on the side of my car so people could say "Look at that s car go. Cool Shot! :)
lyron
I don't like them but in Spain we also eat 'caracoles'. Great shot!!!
Fidelity2
Super "great" on your part. 5+.
virginiese
wow ! it was a pleasure to read all these informations about a plate from my country ! I don't often eat escargots but I do so when I go in Burgundy... They are succulent and beautifully presented in their shell or prepared in velouté or feuilletés! Great picture too !
decie
hmmmm! pas de remercier je vais passer sur ce projet, j'ai perdu mon appétit, merci de le montrer et pour tous les numéros de téléphone dans l'ajoute:) hmmmm! no thank i will pass on this i just lost my appetite, thanks for showing and for all the phone numbers in the adds:)
brycek
Cool shot and facts!!
pops
Very informative and interesting
MOSKETON
FELICIDADES, PO EL TEMA DE COMIDA, ME VOY A CENAR, JE JE. BUEN TRABAJO GASTRONÓMICO.
bmac62
Escargot is a tremendous favorite here in our family. Your history is fascinating. Wish I had been there to join you for this meal:)
tennesseecowgirl
thanks but I will have to pass on this one.. :)
bebert
merci beaucoup pour ces informations :) very nice shot.
mgtcs
It's delicious, I love escargots and the photo is superb! Excellent my friend!
lucindawind
mmm I bet they were good .. whenever I was in Quebec the food was always excellent and so delicious lovely shot !
MC-Jay-One
Not my kind of taste but great shot ! :P
Miska7
Very nice capture! Not sure i would like it though. lol
beatoangelico
Super and great capture...well done..!!!!
ShadowsNTime
I enjoyed the read and the image is beautiful...I will pass on the snails tho, lol!
jeroni
Fantastic image. I like very much the colors
Darkwish
It's look very yummy!
MrsLubner
A very interesting shot as I've never seen snails prepared and served as such but I'll pass on sampling it. I spend too much time "melting" these big snails in my garden every year to find them irresistible for my meal. :-)
Radar_rad-dude
That is a magnificent history and a most elegant capture of your appetizer! Thank you very much for the history and scene! I don't think I will acquire a taste for snails, but I enjoyed your descriptive! 5+++++
Richardphotos
the only contact I have had with snails are ones around the house outside.I have tried several unique foods but did not care for them. raw oysters are popular here, but I only like them fried.different strokes for different folks.interesting reading about the history of escargot and a fine food shot
amota99517
This is a great shot! While I don't relish eating these little creatures, your shot does make it look quite appetizing.
Minda
:) ...great shot sandra!!
ragouc
Time for lunch......
jocko500
looks wonderful but I do not eat them