EASY: How To Prepare Snails For Consumption

It’s time to learn how to prepare snails for consumption now that you know why eating them is important from our prior post.

Harvesting

After a rainstorm is when snails are easiest to catch. The weather is ideal at this time of year since the humidity and wetness cause the little pests to emerge at twilight from their hiding places beneath rocks and in cracks. All you need for a successful hunt is a short shower, a calm evening, a bucket, and a powerful torch.

Before they are ready to cook, snails require a lot of preparation. You need to alter that by regulating their nutrition for a few days since you don’t know where they’ve been or what they’ve been eating.

Although it might seem intimidating, cleaning snails is actually rather simple. My snail purchases are often already cleaned and shelled. Even so, I still thoroughly rub the snails in lemon juice to get rid of all the slime.

Within the Kitchen

To remove the flesh from the shells, place the snails in a pot of boiling water and cook for a few minutes. Rinse them in cool water, then use the tip of a knife to poke the meat out. Rinse the snails in a bowl of vinegar water (use 1/2 cup of vinegar per gallon of water) to get rid of the remaining of the slime. Fresh water and vinegar should be used multiple times throughout this process to completely remove the mucus.

They can now be prepared to be made into escargot by simply sautéing them in butter, garlic, and a little white wine, according to the traditional recipe.

What Is the Taste of Snails?

Snails rapidly take on the flavor of the sauce they are cooked in and have a chewy, earthy texture. Snails are similar to mushrooms in flavor and texture.