I love them. Will order in a proper French restaurant. Last time I had them was just about 4 years ago.

I like them when they are tender, but not much when they are sandy or tough.

I haven't had them in a long time. If they're perfectly made, they're delicious. I've never noticed a metallic taste. I wonder if that comes from the soil/food/water, terroir.

Are the snails you get here in the US prepared from live ones or are they from cans?

dcarch

I like them, but haven't seen them on the menu for years.

I always remember the scene in Pretty Lady where the guy is trying to teach her to eat them and the snail, shell and all, goes flying across the room. 😂

LOL Kate, I too thought of that when I saw the ’implement’ (don’t know the correct word) in my son’s photo. I think she mentioned ”slippery little suckers” which I thought was quite funny.

Live. There are snail ranches.

I like escargot ”tongs”, too. They're really easy to use, but like safety pins, you push in to open.

My husband loves them so I serve them to him but I put the garlic butter on prawns for me. Repulsive little things, snails LOL I use plates like this then you can put the naked little horror in the dip and dispense with the tongs. https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/567172146813682433/

Pretty! I've only seen the stainless escargot dishes.

Had them once. Loved them!

I had them a long time ago and liked them. I normally do not go to French restaurants unless it is a French Vietnamese restaurant, and that does not have escargot on the menu. I cook French style food at home, which is why I do not go to French restaurants. My grandmother was from Alsace, and I learned a lot of recipes from her.

I love snails cooked in the French style with butter and garlic. I was in Cherasco, Italy, last month. Cherasco calls itself the snail capital of Italy. I ordered snails. I was surprised when they were served in a small tureen with a tomato-y sauce over them. I’m sorry to say, I did not care for them. It made me question if I like snails or if what I really like is the garlic butter sauce. 😁

bbstx ... Yes I think that was my situation as well. Now I love that sauce on prawns or scallops.

I think it tastes different on the snails. ;) I don't like the foot, though. It interferes with the texture.

Yes, I've tried them. And I'll never try them again, in spite of my "7 year rule". They were terrible in both taste and texture for me. The blue dishes are lovely, though.

Annie

Eat prawns instead LOL

Lars, Alsace has been in France and Germany so the cooking there is a rather special amalgam. French cooking is very regional. Eating here is completely different to eating in Alsace so don't let that put you off from eating in French restos!

Blech! I've stepped on, poisoned, chopped in half, and drowned too many slugs here in the PNW, the slug capital of the world, to ever imagine putting anything even closely similar in my mouth. I literally gag at the prospect.

I’ve eaten the large snails with garlic butter many times but they're a bit of a cliche and I would choose something more interesting if given a choice. Out of curiosity I’ve also gathered them and cooked them but the starvation rigmarole wasn’t worth the effort. I also had a stew in Crete made with small snails picked from the fields. Tasty but the snaios didn't add much, just a bit of chewy necessary protein for a peasnt diet. There is nothing inherentley any more yucky about eating a snail than a clam or any other mollusc.

It's the slime that I hate. At least an oyster or a clam isn't slimy! Apparently the face creams made from snail slime are wonderful but I couldn't bear to put that on my skin either.

IC, I’ve never eaten a cooked snail that was slimy.

Agreed. Snails on the plate, if anything, should be floury. But I suspect it's the slime of the live snail that puts Islay off...

I love escargot! Haven't had it in years.

http://thibeaultstablerecipes.blogspot.com/2009/05/escargot-in-mini-toast-cups.html

Only once, many years ago, and they were just OK. I'm not a fan of heavy garlic flavor. I prefer it in moderation.

I'd rather have an oyster than a snail anyway.

I agree, it's the slime. Clams don't leave slime trails on my windows or turn into a gooey mess on my shoes when I step on one or startle me with their cold gooey presence when I accidentally grab ahold of one when they are lurking under a flower pot or similar. They are so disgusting that I cannot imagine anyone putting one in their mouth, lol! At least snails have the decency to wear a pretty house, but still no. I cannot face raw oysters either, tho I can eat cooked ones.

I think living snails are pretty cool little animals. They're fun to observe and make pets of.

This is one dizzy Escargo after taking a ride in the Salad Spinner. This was a pretty big one too yet.

Havent had snails in years....when I lived on the east coast I used to get them as an appetizer fairly often but they don't appear on the menue verfy often in the midwest. I love them!

In the salad spinner hahaha

That's merry-go-round to the small fry. ;)

Lunch anyone?

Floral , I know the photo looks funny and not appetising but as you know there are different foods from cultures all around the world that some of us would not eat.

UK steak and kidney pie can be thought of as extremely challenging when preparing urine smelling pigs kidneys and yet it is a British food icon. Ask me how I know. The smell lingered for hours.

@bbstx I didn't realize that Cherasco was considered the snail capital of italy. In my stay there i focused mainly on the delicious plin instead! .

This is always a food that is hard to get over preconceptions of looks, for some reason --- is it the slime? the antennae?

I learned to make plin on my trip!

Cooked snails, to me, are no slimier than cooked oysters. And certainly a whole lot less slimy than cooked okra.

It’s not the slime when cooked, it’s the memory of the raw slime that is gag worthy!

OTOH, there's something classic about eating your enemy...

😂😂

HAHAHAHA

Neely, read back. I said I like snails and have eaten them many times with no compunction. I have also gathered them and cooked them myself. The photo was just a joke illustrating the huge numbers of snails I get in my garden. If it wasn’t such a faff I’d happily prepare and cook them regularly.

I have no problem eating food from different cultures and have had all sorts around the world, including bee larvae in Japan and mouse in Vietnam. I don’t find anybody’s food culture ’funny’. Although I can say that I do not enjoy fast food or dishes with loads of poor ingredients piled on in an attempt to make them taste of something.

I also love steak and kidney pie, and pudding, and always increase the proportion of kidney. You can soak the kidneys in milk if you find the flavour too strong. Or use lambs kidneys, but without the kidney the gravy is nothing like as good. There should be no ’lingering smell’. Perhaps the kidneys you had were not well prepared? Nobody complained about this s and k pie, including the Italian relations.

I did read your previous post about you having eaten snails Floral. I guess it was that post that sort of set me off in defense of food from different cultures, namely the French, when you mentioned that ”they’re a bit of a cliche” ... snails that is...not the French. Crazy Huh!!!

I love escargot and we have a few cans in the pantry, but I don’t think to make them at home. This is a good reminder!

I once tried raising garden snails to eat. Didn’t work well. SWMBO objected very sternly.

😂😂😂

Thinking that the snails in France are different variety, and they may taste different also because they are raised on selected diets. So I tried to buy live snails from France so I can farm them myself, but I was told it is illegal.

dcarch

dcarch7, considering what happened in California way back in the Gold Rush days, I think they may be considered an Invasive Species.

Most snails eaten in France are not farmed there. They mainly come from Eastern Europe.

Not a great picture but this is a caragolera, a snail storage/prep jar from Majorca.