Snails commonly known as land snails o note come escargot in France, they represent a food widely used in Italian and transalpine cuisine. Beware of do not fall into the typical confusion between snails, equipped with shells, and snails that do not have them. However, perhaps not everyone knows that snails (therefore without shells) they feed on food harmful to humans like some poisonous mushrooms and for this reason they are not edible.
Enjoy them at their best? Watch out for purge
Land snails can be cooked both in the shell, like Sicilian snails, or without, possibly accompanied by sauces and butter. In any case first they need a treatment of purging from drool, feces and other types of impurities. In order to be able to cook them, they are left without food in the shade and well ventilated; the procedure which takes the name of purging lasts 2/3 days; once purged they are put in a pot and boiled, shelled once cooked and prepared according to local tradition.
The best time to prepare them
The best time to consume snails is autumn and winter, when its meat is very tasty and fragrant. From a nutritional point of view, snails are a dietetic food since they are practically fat-free and with a high nutritional value due to the high protein intake and a large amount of iron and calcium; perfect therefore in slimming diets! But remember that they are not easily digestible foods therefore the maximum recommended portion should never exceed 10 specimens each.
Question of “drool”
Did you know they once came ingested alive as an antidote for gastritis and gastric ulcers? Now they are especially appreciated for the slime that is used in creams antiaging or how cough suppressant.
Because they always cost more
Unfortunately the anomalous drought of recent years it damaged the production of the snails and so obviously there was a 20-30% price increase both domestic and imported. Now all you have to do is prepare this tasty and healthy dish, remembering that if you want to make a good impression on your guests you will have to stock up on the appropriate crockery: a plate with many concave cavities to prevent the butter from leaking inside the snail and a tong that has several cavities in its surface to fit them and make consumption easier.