Eating Snails?? A good idea??

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Eating Snails?? A good idea??
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tjahardie

Joined: 09 Aug 2010
Posts: 18
Location: Northumberland

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 1:02 pm Post subject: Eating Snails?? A good idea??

Right, I'm new so forgive me if I seem a little green.

Snails are eating my lettuces (although not as much as last year). I don't want to put pellets down but I quite like the idea of eating snails instead. This would remove the problem and give me something to eat!

Is it worth the effort of purging them? I've always imagined that they'd be great with a bit of garlic butter.....

Also, I've heard that there are certain snails that should be avoided. As far as I know, the ones munching my lettuces are common garden snails.

Any hints or tips would be greatly appreciated!

hedgehogpie

Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 684
Location: Kent

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 1:17 pm Post subject:

As far as I know (and I'm prepared to be corrected by anyone who knows better) all of our snails are ok for eating (except the Roman Snail, which IIRC is protected?) - it's more a question of size versus the effort of preparation.

The other thing with snails is that they can be carriers of lungworm so cooking is essential although I can't imagine that anyone would be even remotely tempted to eat them raw.

tjahardie

Joined: 09 Aug 2010
Posts: 18
Location: Northumberland

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 1:23 pm Post subject:
haha! I'd like to say I could eat a raw snail but think I'd probably prefer to cook!

gil
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18416

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 1:39 pm Post subject:
Do you need to purge them first ?

tjahardie

Joined: 09 Aug 2010
Posts: 18
Location: Northumberland

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 1:52 pm Post subject:
As I understand it, if you don't purge them first they're full of soil / grit. I was told to keep them in a bucket with an adequate food supply for two weeks before eating them.

hedgehogpie

Joined: 02 May 2006
Posts: 684
Location: Kent

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 1:59 pm Post subject:

You might like this

https://picasaweb.google.com/HelixiaP/SnailsBlog#5463060020984695874

Found it on this interesting blog titled Eating Garden Snails: https://eatinggardensnails.blogspot.com/

Quote:

Autumn is a good and easy time to gather snails to eat straight away. The French do this traditionally. The snails have grown and fattened up throughout the summer, and are now hibernating. This means they have purged themselves and are dormant, but have not yet lost much weight. All you have to do is find them, and kill them in boiling water soon after gathering. Don�t keep them in a warm damp place first or they might wake up again.
If you�re ready for a snail meal, you can freeze or bottle them after boiling in stock. See the March 09 archive for details of preparation and recipes.

If you scroll down to Monday, March 23, 2009 there's more about her methods.

tjahardie

Joined: 09 Aug 2010
Posts: 18
Location: Northumberland

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 2:10 pm Post subject:
Thanks v much! I actually came across this lady's blog when I typed "eating garden snails" into google. I hadn't realised she'd been on the BBC! Looks like I may need to wait until September!

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46390
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 3:09 pm Post subject:
i put em in a crock pot with some apple for a week or so my usual meathod of cooking is to cover them with salt and stir a couple of times over about 30 mins ,wash to remove the slime and excess salt ,boil for about 30 mins in water or buillon ,drench in garlic butter and eat with a pointy thing to winkle em out of the shell yum

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46390
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 3:12 pm Post subject:
ps no need to wait if purged purging is mainly to avoid the risk of them having feasted on toxic plants

T.G

Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Posts: 7280
Location: Somewhere you're not

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 3:15 pm Post subject:
the cook chappie who comes on radio2 on what was the chris evans - is it mayo now slot, he mentioned a couple of weeks back about how to purge snails - ours- for eating, and was saying how nice they were .. would it be available on some replay facility?

boisdevie1

Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 3897
Location: Lancaster

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 3:16 pm Post subject:
Sounds good. What's the best way to catch/collect em? Sheet of wood laid down in the garden so they'll collect under it. Love snails and the idea of free food has a certain attraction.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46390
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 3:18 pm Post subject:
it isnt really catch

Went

Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 6968

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 3:27 pm Post subject:

dpack wrote:

it isnt really catch

They play games with you if you are not careful - I am sure they are able to shape shift.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46390
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 10 4:07 pm Post subject:
i wondered where the little red watering can came from

asterix

Joined: 31 Oct 2008
Posts: 5
Location: South London

Posted: Tue Aug 10, 10 9:21 am Post subject:
I would put them in a box with holes for three weeks with flour (for purging) and thyme (for flavor). Wash them in vinegared water to clean them and make them salivate. After that they are ready. Garlic and butter is ok. But I prefer with ground pork, ham, tomato sauce, white wine, garlic and and hot pepper. Bon appetit!

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