I have eaten snails in my adventures; snails served in a restaurant, I mean. I’m pretty sure they had salt on them, along with a lot of butter and garlic. I remember the meat being, as you might imagine, a bit chewy and rather neutral on the flavor scale. It was a lot like eating garlic candy. I would eat them again, but I would not go out of my way to eat them again. And, surprise! Not all snails are considered edible. The escargot snail, the snail most likely to be eaten in a snooty setting, is the helix pomatia, or Roman snail.
I suppose beer would not pair well with escargot. That’s how we trap the garden slugs. Put out a saucer of beer, and they will literally throw themselves in and die. I suppose if I were doomed to live life as a garden slug, I might do the same thing.
Tips for Fine Dining
By Jimmy Johnson
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24 responses to “Tips for Fine Dining”
Yeah I’ve never tried a snail and don’t plan to start soon. My father-in-law would pair with with a spinach dip and my wife loved it. I have told this story here before but in our our 1st month of marriage she tried the recipe out on me. My mom would make canned spinach, so I did not care for that either, but I tried it anyway. After a few bites, my wife realized that she had made it wrong. Later she found out that she used 3 heads instead of 3 cloves of garlic. My mom did not cook with garlic much except serving frozen garlic bread. I eventually started to like garlic, but not 3 heads worth.
About 10 years later I had dinner with an obnoxious customer who insisted that I try the restaurant’s famous spinach salad. I really enjoyed it. When I mentioned it to my father-in-law, he taught me the proper way to make the spinach dip. Still won’t eat snails, though!
Early in our married life, Rheta and I made a special dish, spaghetti carbonara, for my parents and a few other “grown-up” guests. We also made the mistake of confusing “heads” and “cloves.” Reviews were polite.
I’ve had them and they’re ok but it seems to me it’s an expensive way to eat butter and garlic.
Lobster is the same.
Momma Bear is going for surgery Friday – Prayers would be appreciated.
Done, OB.
Ah… Snails in a slightly spiced sauce. You can not have them better than the ones in Turre, a small village in Almeria, in southern Spain. Much more savory than the French version (and way, way cheaper). Every summer I eat loads of them, they are popular tapas in the area. Delicious! My wife won’t touch them, though…
I had never heard of garlic cloves, so used cloves—whole ones—in a marinade recipe. Unusual but tasty, my friends said.
Prayers for those wanting same – and a request for some for a life-long friend [back to the mid 1940s] who is now in hospice care with, maybe, a few weeks to go.
Not a garlic fan here, but I do know that some recipes need it and would be less wonderful without it. My MBH knows this and uses garlic judiciously.
Done, cxp.
#1 daughter tried escargot for the first time this week. Apparently she liked them enough to order them again today. No word idea if she thought they were too salty.
What is the joke about salt/escargot? Knowing nothing about the latter as a food, I don’t get it. Thanks to anyone explaining it.
Salt is also useful for destroying garden slugs: it draws the water out of them, causing them to shrivel.
Does anyone else have issues with FB? All of my friend lists are suddenly empty! At least I can still access my groups.
Not now, but about a week ago I had problems. It seems to come and go and you just have to live with it.
I liked escargot the few times I’ve had it. However, there are other mollusks that I prefer. Also, I could prefer escargot with less garlic than typical. My favorite mollusk is either steamer clams with butter & clam juice, or grilled scallops with bacon. Both are delicious!
Prayers for Mama Bear and CxP’s friend. The prayers of friends really lifted my family during the past week and half. My oldest sister passed away last Monday. And… as I said… the prayers really helped!
My condolences, Gal.
Very sorry about your sister, Galliglo.
An AF buddy who did a tour in Spain told me they would go to cognac bars where, instead of bowls of peanuts, there were bowls of snails sitting out on the bar. Said they pulled them out of their shells with toothpicks and proclaimed them delicious.
With enough cognac in me, I’d eat snails. I might even eat liver. But probably not.
Thanks for the assurance of prayers, y’all.
Sorry to hear of the loss of your sister, Gal; here’s a wish that she found serenity along the way.
It must have rained upstream in the Rift Valley. River was a trickle, but is up to [but not over] its banks again. Now I’ll go up and read the recent posts.
https://explore.org/livecams/african-wildlife/african-watering-hole-animal-camera
Peace,
All: Prayers and condolences. Funeral Sat. 27 Apr. for a 90-yr old who died peacefully, obit says. Married late to an unmarried BSU phys ed prof. The two were an asset to BUMC and the community: meals on wheels, etc. Other prayers for those I learn about at “work” [HIPPA, etc.].
Carl Duellman, above: Any relation to noted herpetologist Bill Duellman [Ph.D. U Mich., ’60 or so]?
Peace,
Whoops. Above “obit” is ambiguous. HIS wife was a Women’s Phys Ed prof. Peace,
prayers and good thoughts headed your ways…..