Grape snail how to cook quickly. Classic snail dishes

Man has been using snails for food since ancient times. They were collected and baked in special pits even before primitive dishes were invented. A little later, these mollusks began to be used as live canned food, using the property of snails to hibernate in the absence of food or insufficient moisture. In this case, the snail closes the mouth of the shell with a special calcareous cap (epipragma) and can be preserved for a very long time.

In ancient Greece, snails were a fairly traditional food product, and at that time they were not considered a delicacy, but served as affordable food for the simplest and poorest people.

In the Roman Empire, snail dishes were also popular, but even here they were considered not so much as a delicacy, but as an affordable and healthy food. Pliny the Elder in his "Natural History" recommended the use of snail meat for gastric diseases. He also describes a certain Fulvius Lippinus, who "established an extensive institution for the artificial breeding of snails and even invented a special food for them, consisting of wheat flour mixed with grape must."

In a letter to Septicius Clara, Pliny the Younger reproaches his comrade for not coming to him for dinner and not being able to taste, among other dishes, specially prepared snails, but “he preferred to have oysters, pork, sea urchin” with someone. Another Roman, physician Galen, recommended the use of boiled and stewed snail meat for dropsy, diseases of the musculoskeletal system, women during pregnancy, as well as adolescents during intensive growth, when the skeleton is being formed.

In Europe, the monks were not only consumers of terrestrial mollusks, but actively distributed them by growing them in monastic gardens. Snails were also bred in home gardens and parks. Lived in the first half of the 18th century. Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen talks about this in his story “The Happy Family”. At the beginning of the last century, A. E. Bram writes that “for a long time, European peoples have been eating snails, and the grape snail in Central Germany and Austria is considered a tasty meal , which is used mainly during fasting and Shrovetide. In Switzerland, these snails are even specially bred for eating them, and about 4 million of them are shipped annually from Ulm in barrels; in the same way, snails are exported from many other cities, as, for example, 10,000 snails were exported from Esslingen in 1901, which were sold at 12 marks per thousand. For consumption, they are simply boiled or eaten finely chopped, mixed with herbs and other seasonings.

And here is what Jerry Hopkins writes in his book Extreme Cuisine, which was also published in Russian: “The Gauls, who inhabited the territory of modern France, served snails as a dessert, and in the Middle Ages the Church allowed them to be eaten during fasting. Usually snails were fried in oil or with onions, cooked on skewers or boiled. One of the earliest accolades for this culinary delicacy appeared in 1394 in the French newspaper Le Managier de Paris.

By the 17th century, the popularity of snails had declined, and in the following centuries they were seen in large parts of the European continent not as a potential delicacy, but as a garden pest. What they are, in fact.

In France, snails came back into fashion after they were served at the table at a dinner given by Minister Talleyrand (Taleyrand) in honor of the Russian Tsar. Since then, France, where about a hundred dishes are prepared from snail meat, has remained the world leader in their consumption. France annually imports about six thousand tons of live and frozen snail meat. Merchants from Germany, Holland, Belgium and other countries come to the Italian town of Borgo for snails. In the center of Europe, Austria is engaged in their export. The income she receives, about three million Austrian Schillings, limits the number of snails available, not the lack of buyers. The main consumers of snail meat are Spain, Italy, France, Belgium and Sweden.

Snails are especially recommended for those who have calcium imbalance in the body, pregnant and lactating women, children and people suffering from diseases such as chondrosis and collagenosis. Snail meat improves bowel function and normalizes metabolism. It is believed that due to the content of magnesium, snail meat can have a calming effect on people and help fight stress.

They are also used to make pharmaceuticals. The latter are used in the treatment of many diseases, primarily such as silicosis, whooping cough, bronchitis. Snail preparations also help neutralize the unwanted side effects of antibiotics.
In England, they produce an extract that takes a thousand snails to prepare one dose. But this dose is enough to keep for several weeks the strength and vigor of a person who has fallen into extreme conditions.

So if you're in an emergency situation, or you're just running out of food for some other reason, then you should pay close attention to snails.

Not all types of snails are edible, but many are. And even among edible species, the palatability of meat between species can vary greatly. Let's look at those species that are used in French cooking, which means they are safe and tasty. So:

Grape snail (HELIX POMATIA)

A very common snail, lives almost throughout Europe. Therefore, it has many other names: Roman snail, edible snail, large snail, cap snail, apple snail, moon snail. The French call it the Burgundy snail or simply the big white one.

snail grape

Garden snail (HELIX ASPERSA)

Its French name is little grey. Most often found on snail farms 🙂 and extremely rare in the wild in France.

garden snail

Turkish snail (HELIX LUCORUM)

A close relative of the grape, it has a greenish body and a somewhat earthy taste. Traditionally used in Burgundy and Alsatian cuisine for pies.

Turkish snail

Snail of Krinitsky (HELIX LUCORUM TAURICA KRYNICKY)

It differs from the Turkish in the transverse arrangement of brown stripes on the shell. Comes across in the South-Western Crimea. Quite a rare species, so it is not found in restaurants.

Snail Krinitsky

Milk snail or Spanish snail (HELIX OTALA)

This snail originally lived in the region of Morocco, it is very rich in proteins and poor in fats, so to speak, a dietary option

Milk snail or Spanish snail

Giant land Achatina (ACHATINA FULICA)

Beautiful, very large and expensive. We almost never meet.

Most land species of snails are not dangerous to health, but not all are palatable, although they have significant energy value. However, you should “remember in person” a freshwater snail Prudovik (LYMNAEIDAE), which can be found near water bodies. It is slightly toxic and can be dangerous not only for fish, but also for humans.

Prudovik

The most poisonous snails prefer warm tropical seas, but some are able to live in high latitudes. Some representatives of the family of predatory gastropods are deadly to humans. This - Cones (CONIDAE), they are definitely among the 10 most poisonous creatures on Earth. Their victims, which are usually polychaete worms and mollusks (less often crustaceans and fish), are paralyzed by cones with the help of poison. A person, due to their small size, is not attacked, but those who died by negligence do not care.

You can collect snails not only in vineyards, but also in parks, squares, forests, in glades with tall grass, in bushes. During the day, and especially in hot weather, snails prefer to hide. But after rain or dew fall, they definitely go out to “graze”.

Snails from 28 mm in size. (about 20 grams come out) are already considered “commodity”, i.e. they are accepted for implementation. But size is important to us only because large snails are easier to cook.

The easiest option for cooking snails is on the grill (grid over coals). Just remember to place them with the holes up. If there is no grate at hand, you can simply on cooling coals, which is less convenient.

Edible parts of the snail are considered to be only the leg (torso + head). The finished snail must either be picked out of the shell (if there is anything), or the shell should be broken. The dark part of the snail is best separated and discarded. This is basically the intestines with undigested food and tastes bitter.

Snails, due to their size, may seem like a "frivolous" source of meat, but they are very satisfying. The usual serving in a restaurant is 6 pcs. They contain one third more protein than a chicken egg. Moreover, these proteins contain a complete set of essential amino acids in such a ratio that is necessary for the synthesis of their own proteins in the human body. Due to the low calorie content of snails, when they are consumed, fats practically do not accumulate in the body, so this meat is very useful for low-calorie diets. It is significant that the lipids (fats) of snail meat are largely composed of unsaturated fatty acids (65% - 70% of all lipids, for comparison, in beef only 5%). In this regard, unsaturated fatty acids not only do not accumulate cholesterol, moreover, this leads to a decrease in its content in the human body. There are also vitamins, trace elements and various biologically active substances.

A more time-consuming, but tastier option is to fry the snails in a pan. Dip the snails in boiling water for 10 seconds. This allows you to easily pick out the meat from the shell with a wire. The stomach is amputated and discarded. The rest is fried in oil with the addition of onions, even better with garlic. Lightly salt.

If time permits, you can cook snails “the right way” and make sure that it is not for nothing that they are a delicacy in one of the most exquisite - French cuisine. For this, snails must be prepared in advance. This can be done in 2 ways.

The first way: Simply do not let them eat for 3 to 14 days. They are kept in this way on a starvation diet in a dark and damp room so that the snails do not die. During this time, the intestines of the snail are completely cleared and can not be removed.

The second way: Special diet for the same period of time. They are given flour dipped in wine or special fragrant herbs and bran.

Store snails in a cool and damp place. The container should only be glass, metal, plastic or wood, with lids made of the same materials. Everything else, such as a box made of thick cardboard, will be devoured and scattered. Don't forget that they need air, so make sure they're ventilated.

Before cooking, rinse with running water and inspect. Some individuals by this time may “drop the skates”. And for all mollusks, freshness can only be the first, and it is also the last. Live snails are lowered into water and immediately transferred to a container filled with coarse salt, where we leave for 3-4 hours so that the snails release mucus. You can simply spray the snails regularly with a strong saline solution.

One of the most famous French dishes with snails - escargot. Prepared snails are washed and immersed in boiling water, after which the snail is easily removed from the shell. The snail is cleaned and washed. Boil the shells in water with a pinch of soda, wash thoroughly, clean from the remains of snails, rinse with water. The sinks are reused. Separately, prepare the "green butter" - beat parsley and garlic with salted butter with a mixer. Put a little green oil on the bottom of the shell, put snail meat into the shell and cover the hole of the shell tightly with green oil. Put the snails in a special form and put in a preheated oven. Cook until oil boils and golden brown. Additional ingredients may be thyme and pine nuts. Served with a special fork and tongs that help hold the round shell.

1. wash

2. Put on the stove

3. When such a foam forms, remove from heat

4. We free the meat from the shells and get

5. We amputate the stomach and get (here is a fillet of 50 snails)

6. We send this fillet to the pan to cook for 40-50 minutes, adding onion and spices to taste (allspice and a Mediterranean mixture of herbs). After 40 minutes, drain the broth and repeat the procedure with a new onion and spices for another 40 minutes.

7. We boil the shells in salt water to rid them of mucus.

8. We take a large bunch of dill, an onion, 5-6 large cloves of garlic and crush it all with a blender into a puree.

9. Drive a pack of butter into this puree with a blender. Salt to taste.

10. As a result, we get such a green mass.

11. We wash the boiled shells and dry them on a towel.

12. We begin to stuff them: first, we stuff our green oil into the sink with our finger, then the boiled snail fillet, and seal it on top with the same oil.

13. In a baking dish, pour salt with a layer of several centimeters, cover with foil and lay the snails so that they do not roll. Sprinkle a little finely grated cheese on top, but not the whole snail, but only the place where the oil is visible, and send it to the oven for 15 minutes -20 at 180 degrees. When we see that the cheese is browned, we take it out. Escargo is ready!

Note to gourmets: the same wines are suitable for snails as for oysters, crayfish, seafood - that is, well-chilled dry whites. You can easily find other snail dishes on the Internet.

Bon appetit!

For thrill-seekers, I recommend preparing a completely unusual dish. We are talking about grape snails. The cooking process is not suitable for every hostess. If you are squeamish, then think before you start cooking this dish.

Ingredients:
50 snails
200 g butter
100 g hard cheese
3 onions
5 garlic cloves
20 g dill
Pepper
Salt
Italian herbs
Cooking:
Snails must be collected. In many areas, this is not a problem, because there are a lot of them in vegetable gardens, near rivers and other areas. The collected snails must be thoroughly washed and cleaned of leaves.

We put the washed snails in a saucepan and, covering with a lid, leave a small hole. This is necessary for the supply of air to the snails so that they remain alive. Snails should be in the pan for three days during which they completely cleanse their body. Once a day, the snails should be washed under running water.

Only after three days you can start cooking snails. At the very beginning of the snail, wash it again, fill it with water and set to boil. We make the fire under the pan large. The water should heat up to a hot temperature, but not boil. The fire under the pan must be turned off as soon as foam appears. Otherwise, the snails will be overcooked and difficult to remove from their shells.

The next step is to separate the snail meat from the shells. Thus, a preparation is made for the future delicacy.

Take a sharp knife and start cutting the snail. The snail fillet must be separated from the rest of its body. Under the fillet is meant the leg of the snail, with which she crawls. Out of 50 snails, you will get approximately only one handful of fillets.

Put the snail fillet and peeled onion in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Salt, pepper the fillet, add Italian herbs (or others to your taste) and cook for 50 minutes over low heat. After this time, the broth must be drained. Now fill the snail fillet with water and repeat the previous cooking procedure again. It should be exactly the same with the same spices.

Meanwhile, put the snail shells in another saucepan and fill with water. The water must be salted so that the shells lose their sliminess.

It's time to prepare the filling. We clean the onion and garlic, wash the dill and grind all these ingredients with a blender.

Add butter, salt to the products in the blender and also grind.

You will get such an extraordinary green mixture that will serve as a filling.

Now the snail shells need to be laid out on a towel and dried.

When the shells are dry, start stuffing them. Put a little green filling deep into the shell, then cover the snail fillet and the shell opening again with the filling. At this stage, stuffed shells can be put in the refrigerator to bake later, or you can immediately start baking.

We heat the oven to 180 degrees. At the bottom of the baking sheet, pour salt 2-3 centimeters thick and cover with foil. Lay the snails tightly on the foil. The filling of each snail should be sprinkled with grated cheese. Do this carefully so that the cheese is only in the indicated places on the snail. Put the baking sheet with the snails in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes. The indicator that the dish is ready will be the ruddy of the cheese. Grape snails are ready. They go great with white wine. Bon appetit!

The cultivation of grape snails has a long history. According to some reports, the ancient Romans began to deal with this business for the first time. Today, these mollusks are widely used in cooking. Dishes from them are present in Italian, French and Spanish cuisine. In today's article, we will tell you how to properly prepare snails for cooking and what delicacies can be made from them.

Product pretreatment

Cooking snails is a very difficult task, especially from a moral point of view. They cannot simply be collected from plants and loaded into boiling water. Before that, they need to clean the intestines.

Those who want to figure out how to prepare grape snails for cooking should remember that live clams should first be placed in a glass aquarium, the bottom of which is covered with a small layer of flour, dill or parsley (a couple of full tablespoons per kilogram of live weight). On the second day, the amount of food is halved, and on the third day it is completely removed. During the fasting period, the snails need to be slightly moistened with a sprayer.

After that, the cleaned mollusks are carefully sorted out, throwing out dead individuals. And those that survived can be subjected to further processing. The subsequent preparation of grape snails for cooking comes down to the fact that they are thrown into a pot of salted boiling water and boiled for five minutes. Then the dishes are removed from the fire, covered with a lid and wait a little more. After about ten minutes, the clams are removed from the broth, cooled and cleaned. To do this, the meat is simply picked up with a fork and pulled out of the shell. During this procedure, it is important not to forget to remove the intestine, which looks like a black curl.

As for shells, they may be needed for stuffing. But before that, they must also undergo special treatment. They are poured with boiling water, in which a small amount of baking soda is dissolved, and boiled for a short time. Then the shells are washed in running water, dried and put away for storage.

Snails in Burgundy

Already from the name itself it becomes clear that this gourmet dish belongs to the French national cuisine. It has an unusual taste and a pleasant delicate aroma. To prepare it you will need:

• Hundreds of snails.
• A liter of good white wine.
• 3 tablespoons of flour.
• 200 milliliters of 3% vinegar.
• A couple of carrots and onions.
• Salt, thyme, bay leaf and parsley.

In addition, this recipe for making grape snails involves the use of several additional ingredients. Therefore, be sure to check if you have in your house:

• 700 grams of soft butter;
• 5 g black ground pepper;
• 25 grams of salt;
• 80 g chopped parsley;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 100 grams of onion.

All this will be needed to obtain the so-called snail oil. It is quite easy to prepare. To do this, all the necessary products are combined in one bowl and mixed well.

Now it's time to get back to cooking the snails. They are poured with clean cold water, brought to a boil and boiled for five minutes. Then they are cooled, removed from the shell and freed from the intestines. The resulting meat is washed again, put in a saucepan and poured with wine, diluted with a liter of drinking water. Chopped carrots, chopped onions, salt and aromatic herbs are also added there. All this is sent to the stove and simmered on a minimum fire for at least four hours.

Put some snail oil into the prepared sink. Cooked meat is placed on top. All this is covered with another layer of oil and briefly sent to a preheated oven.

Snails in tomato sauce

We present to your attention another very interesting version of an unusual dish. This method of cooking grape snails allows you to get a real delicacy that is appropriate on any holiday table. This time you will need:

• Medium bulb.
• 20 cleaned and washed snails.
• A couple of full tablespoons of tomato paste.
• ¼ cup vegetable oil.
• A teaspoon of soup seasoning.
• Salt and hot red pepper.

The snails are placed in a suitable pot and filled with water. All this is salted and boiled for no longer than ten minutes. Then the snails are removed from the broth, cooled and put aside.

Fry the chopped onion in a hot skillet. After a minute, add tomato paste to it and continue cooking. Then the resulting sauce is spread to the snails and boiled for five minutes. Ready-made clams are strung on skewers and decorated with slices of bell pepper.

Baked snails

This option is interesting because it involves the use of canned shellfish. This greatly facilitates and speeds up the process of preparing grape snails. To surprise everyone with a delicious and exquisite delicacy, you will need:

• 30 canned snails.
• ½ pack of butter.
• 100 grams of parmesan.
• A couple of cloves of garlic.
• Fine-grained salt, ground nutmeg, pepper and herbs.

Softened butter is combined with crushed garlic, spices and chopped parsley. Everything is mixed well and the molds are poured with the resulting sauce, at the bottom of which there are already canned snails. The future dish is sprinkled with pre-grated cheese and baked in the oven for about a quarter of an hour.

Snails stewed with mushrooms

This option of a hot dish will interest real gourmets. It is distinguished by its aesthetic appearance and exquisite taste. It is important to bear in mind that this recipe for making grape snails at home involves the use of a non-standard set of components. Therefore, see in advance whether you have at hand:

• 500 grams of snail pulp.
• Medium bulb.
• 200 grams of fresh chanterelles and porcini mushrooms.
• ½ cup natural port.
• Sour cream, butter, salt, aromatic spices and herbs.

Onions and mushrooms are washed, peeled and cut into small pieces. Then they are fried in warmed butter until half cooked and transferred to ceramic pots. Port wine, salt, spices, washed snail pulp and sour cream are also added there. Everything is gently mixed, covered with foil and baked for half an hour. The finished dish is decorated with fresh herbs and served on the table.

Cretan snails

This light and very tasty dish is prepared so simply that any beginner can cope with such a task without any problems. For this you will need:

• Tablespoon of rosemary.
• 100 milliliters of olive oil.
• A couple of full tablespoons of wine vinegar.
• Salt.

Cooking grape snails according to the method described below does not take much time and does not require special culinary skills. The clams are laid out on a hot thick-bottomed frying pan filled with a layer of table salt, so that the holes are at the bottom, and they are allowed to dry. As soon as excess moisture evaporates from the snails, olive oil is added to them and cooked for five minutes. Then wine vinegar and rosemary are sent to the pan. Everything is well mixed, heated and removed from the stove.

Snails in Maltese

This unusual but very tasty dish is a great option for a family lunch or a romantic dinner. For the preparation of grape snails in the house must be:

• 200 milliliters of dry red wine.
• Half a kilo of blanched snails.
• 45 milliliters of olive oil.
• Salt, ground pepper, basil, marjoram and fresh mint.

Pre-cleaned and scalded snails are lightly fried in refined vegetable oil, and then poured with wine, salted and seasoned with aromatic herbs. All this is simmered on a minimum fire for about a quarter of an hour. Shortly before the completion of the heat treatment, chopped greens are added to the almost ready dish.

Snails in sour cream sauce

This dish has a delicate, refined taste and a pleasant light aroma. Therefore, it can be safely served on the festive table. To repeat this recipe for cooking grape snails at home, double-check in advance whether you have everything you need at hand. In this situation, you will need:

• 36 canned grape snails.
• 100 grams of Parma ham.
• Tablespoon of flour.
• Shallot.
• A couple tablespoons of soft butter.
• 30 milliliters of thick sour cream.
• 5 large spoons of brandy.
• Lemon juice, egg yolks and green onions.
• Salt, white pepper and puff pastry tartlets.

Shallots and ham are cut into not very large pieces and fried in hot butter. Then wheat flour, brandy, sour cream and pre-washed snails are added to the same pan. Mix everything well and cook over low heat until a thick homogeneous sauce is obtained. After that, the dishes are removed from the burner and salt, spices, lemon juice and egg yolks are sent to it. The resulting mass is filled with tartlets and served to the table.

Soup with snails

This is a classic dish of German national cuisine. This recipe for making grape snails (a photo of such treats can be found in today's publication) involves the use of a specific food set. Therefore, before starting the process, see if you have at hand:

• 24 canned or boiled snails.
• 4 shallots.
• 250 milliliters of dry white wine.
• 40 grams of butter.
• Liter of meat broth.
• 20 grams of leeks, celery and carrots.
• Yolks from two eggs.
• Salt and parsley.

In a frying pan with warmed butter spread chopped shallots and half of the chopped snails. All this is stewed for several minutes, and then poured with wine and broth and brought to a boil. The remaining snails and chopped vegetables are immersed in the seething liquid. All this is simmered over low heat until the ingredients are soft. A minute before the fire is turned off, a mixture of egg yolks and cream is poured into the soup. Before serving, the dish is decorated with chopped herbs.

Austrian snails

This dish has another name. Locals know it as Viennese snail goulash. To prepare it you will need:

• 200 grams of prepared snails.
• A couple of bulbs.
• A clove of garlic.
• 125 ml paprikamus.
• Tablespoon of tomato paste.
• 250 ml beef broth.
• A tablespoon of ground sweet paprika.
• Olive oil, salt, cumin, rosemary, thyme and marjoram.

Sequencing

Onions and garlic are chopped and lightly fried in vegetable oil. Then they are stewed together with tomato paste and paprikamus. After a few minutes, broth, salt and herbs are added to the same bowl. All this is simmered on minimum heat for a quarter of an hour, and then combined with snails and brought to a boil again.

Words grape snail the modern urban dweller is more likely to associate with aquariums than with cooking. However, in many European and Asian countries, snails are a common item on restaurant menus. Grape snails are farmed and sold live or frozen and ready to eat. Even snail caviar is used for food, resembling noble mushrooms in taste.

Grape snail only in the XX century began to be considered a delicacy. For thousands of years, snails, like other shellfish, have been a common food for the inhabitants of the coastal regions of Europe. From early spring to late autumn, snails were collected on beaches, in gardens, and in vineyards. They were a salvation for the poor and a delicacy for the nobility. Today, grape snails can be found not only on the warm European shores, but also in Ukraine, Belarus, and the central regions of Russia. In the countries of the Mediterranean, helitseculture is well developed - the cultivation of edible snails on special farms. In Russia, snails are bred only in the Kaliningrad region.

If you have doubts whether it is worth eating snails at all, we will answer: everyone is free to make their choice. Someone treats these cute creatures as pets, but for someone it is a valuable protein product with an amazing taste and many useful properties.

As for the usefulness of snail meat, there can be no doubt: only 90 calories per 100 g; only 2-3% fat, and that consists of unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, no cholesterol and as much as 15% protein. Snail meat is rich in magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, vitamins A, E and group B. It is not surprising that snails are considered a powerful aphrodisiac, comparable only to oysters.

Cooking Eden figured out how to cook snails and shares the best recipes with readers. There are two main directions in dealing with snails collected in the wild: you can cook snails very simply: bake or cook on a fire, or you can devote several days to them and get a real work of culinary art - escargot.

Let's start with a simple one: how to cook snails in a quick way. This information will be especially useful for tourists who, in the event of a sudden encounter with snails, will be able to diversify their meager diet. It happens that for some reason, snails begin a mass migration and crawl out onto the roads in hundreds. With a good combination of circumstances, in half an hour you can gain several kilograms of snails, and after another 10-15 minutes you can get a delicious and hearty lunch. To do this, lay the snails in the shells with the holes up on the grate over the coals, salt, pepper, pour a little oil into the holes or put a piece of lard. Bake the snails for about 10 minutes. Pick out the finished snails with a toothpick and separate the meat from the insides.

There is a more humane, tasty and cleaner way to cook snails in the field. To do this, you need to prepare several liters of boiling water. We lower the snails into boiling water and cook for a very short time - 3-5 minutes after boiling again. The purpose of this procedure is to quickly clear the mucus from the snails and facilitate their removal from the shells. The extracted snails should be butchered, leaving only the fleshy "cephalopod". Next, we act according to the circumstances. You can continue cooking the snails in fresh salted boiling water with vegetables and get a full-fledged soup, or you can fry the snails in lard or vegetable oil along with onions and garlic - you get a delicious appetizer that tastes like mushrooms and white meat.

If you have the time, kitchen and a full set of utensils, there are several ways to prepare a delicacy from wild grape snails.

First, the snails should be aged to clean their innards and then not mess with butchering. Someone recommends keeping snails in the refrigerator in an empty pan without food for 3 to 14 days and rinsing periodically. Other chefs advise planting snails for several days on flour, bran and aromatic herbs - thyme, fennel. With this method, already on the 3rd day, the snails will be cleaned and acquire a natural aromatization. By the way, in the Mediterranean countries, snails are especially tasty, as they feed on aromatic herbs in natural conditions. Live snails bought in the markets of Crete, Cyprus, Greece and other European countries do not need to be cleaned - they have already been prepared for use on farms. Unfortunately, the meat of snails collected in the Crimea and Russia, without prior cleaning, greatly loses its taste.

Having completed the cleaning of the snails (or having bought live prepared ones), you need to make sure that there are no dead ones among them. To do this, place the snails in water and remove those that show no signs of life. Next, boil the snails in boiling water along with the shells, rinse - and they are ready for culinary experiments.

Ingredients:

1 glass of dry red wine
fresh mint, basil, marjoram,
salt, pepper to taste.

Cooking:
Snails in shells quickly fry in olive oil, pour wine, salt, pepper and simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Shortly before readiness, add chopped greens. Serve the snails in their shells, drizzling with the remaining sauce. Ale can be used instead of wine.

Ingredients:
500 g prepared blanched snails,
100 ml olive oil,
2 tbsp wine vinegar,
1 tbsp rosemary,
salt to taste.

Cooking:
Heat a frying pan, sprinkle a thin layer of salt on it and place the snails on it with the hole down. When the snails are dry, pour the oil into the pan, stir and leave the pan over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Add rosemary, vinegar, stir and remove from heat. Serve the snails in their shells, drizzling with the oil they were fried in. Pull the flesh of the snails with a toothpick and remove the dark tip. The rest of the insides can not be removed.

The most exquisite dish of grape snails is escargot. For its preparation and serving, they even came up with special devices: an escargot (a metal tray with recesses for shells), tongs to hold the shell, and a fork with two long prongs to take out the contents. In France, escargot is usually served as an appetizer before dinner, while in the US and Australia, this dish is considered the main dish and does not need additions.

Ingredients:
1 kg prepared snails
300 g butter,
1 large head of garlic,
lemon juice, parsley, salt, pepper to taste
hard cheese optional.

Cooking:
Blanch the snails for 2 minutes, remove from the shells, remove the insides. Snail meat lightly salt and fry (or boil in new water with onions and herbs). Prepare flavored oil: mix finely chopped garlic and chopped parsley with softened butter, add lemon juice, salt and pepper. In empty dried shells, put a piece of snail meat and fill to the top with oil. Top with grated cheese. (The escargots can be frozen at this stage and stored in the refrigerator for several weeks. In France, these are the prepared frozen escargots sold in supermarkets.)

If you don't want to use the shells, put the flavored butter in a baking dish and top with the snail meat. Place the container with the snails in the preheated oven for 10 minutes (or in the microwave for 2-3 minutes) and serve immediately. Escargots in shells are eaten with special forks or toothpicks. Dry white, red or rose wine is served with this dish.

If cooking live snails does not fit into your picture of the world, but you want a French delicacy, try to find frozen snails. They are sold in many large supermarkets already peeled and boiled. You can also use canned snails, but their taste will be noticeably worse.

With frozen snails in shells, you can do very simply: put on a baking sheet, sprinkled with salt for stability, season with your favorite spices and bake for 5-10 minutes at a temperature of 200-230ºС. And you can conjure a little, for example, like this:

Ingredients:
20-30 pcs. frozen or canned snails without shells,
100 g butter,
50 g parmesan,
2-3 garlic cloves,
Parsley, nutmeg, salt to taste.

Cooking:
Mix softened butter with chopped parsley, garlic, nutmeg and salt. Spread the snails in an escargot dish (you can use small baking tins), put a little butter on top, sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake snails for 10 minutes at 230ºС. Serve with baguettes and dry wine.

With skillful handling, the grape snail willingly turns into a delicious dish. Experiment more boldly!

These mollusks got their name due to the fact that they are very fond of eating grape leaves, while causing considerable harm to it. In nature, grape snails can grow up to 9 cm, and at home, with good care, they will become even larger. They began to eat these mollusks in food in ancient times - it was a healthy, tasty and cheap dish available to everyone.

Grape snails - breeding at home

Grape snails are bred for various purposes. Some keep them as undemanding pets that are interesting to watch. Others strive to grow as many shellfish as possible in order to eat them.

1. It is best to use an aquarium for fish, a terrarium or a sufficiently large capacity made of Plexiglas.
2. To create conditions for snails that are relatively close to natural, soil should be put on the bottom of the house. You can use sand, ready-made soil for growing seedlings, purchased in a store, or just land taken from your site. In the latter case, it will have to be pre-disinfected by calcining it on a baking sheet in the oven, or spilling it with a solution of potassium permanganate. This is done in order not to bring various pests into the house along with the soil.
3. On the ground you can put leaves, twigs. Snails will be happy to crawl on them, and some will feast on them. From time to time, wilted leaves will have to be changed.
4. Enough large stones and stiff branches - no place in the house. If the snails crawl on them, they will leave their mucus on them, from which it will be difficult to clean them.
5. In addition, in the house you can make a "pool" for snails. It should be shallow - for example, it is good to pour some water in a saucer. Snails do not swim, but in the warm season they will be happy to use such a “pool”.

The nuances of caring for snails

Since grape snails are southern residents, with the onset of autumn they can fall asleep until spring. This will happen if the snail house is in a cold room. If you continue to keep them in a warm room, the mollusks will lead a normal life.