By Karen England, the Edgehill Herb Farmer.
Snails! They’re what’s for lockdown kitchen dinner!
Not sure my family expected that I would serve them snails though, least of all for this momentous, reunited meal. My people are truly great sports and they savored every bite!
Look what the quarantine made me do! It took a full week’s worth of work to accomplish; gathering 50 snails, purging them for five days on a lettuce only diet, then giving them a two day fast, all the while rinsing often ‘til they were ready to prepare for eating. Next they were boiled, de-shelled and cleaned before sautéing …
It all started with the record breaking April rains that just happened to coincide with the quarantine. After the rains came what I can only describe as a “snailpocalypse” in my garden. All those snails, Carl Sagan billions of them, reminded me of a very funny story that chef Jacques Pepin tells in his memoir The Apprentice about gathering snails at a resort hotel where he was staying before teaching cooking classes in Northern California and I thought, if Jacques values these slime balls that much to teach people how to make escargot then I should take advantage of the endless supply literally at my kitchen door and learn to make some myself.
That’s what I did in quarantine. What did you make? I’m guessing sourdough and that you did not make snails for dinner. I’ve got the sneaking suspicion that I’m the only one…
Karen’s steps to making escargot… 
… Gather snails from a pesticide free area. 
Keep them in a large bowl with a lid and air circulation. 
Feed them on a one ingredient diet (I fed them lettuce) for five days. Rinse them daily to purge them. 
Then give them no food for two days. 
Weigh down your lid during this time because the snails will escape otherwise! 
Boil them with onions and herbs … 
Make sure you get all the snails into the stock pot. 
Simmer for 10 minutes. 
Extract the meat with a skewer . . . 
. . . From the shells. 
Trim away the black cloaca. I had to google this. You should too! 
Once cooked and trimmed they are ready for further cooking. 
Toss in salt to remove any lingering slime for a few minutes. Rinse before proceeding. 
I made Garlicky Snails with Breadcrumbs. 
It made 4 servings of a dozen snails each. 
“A well cooked snail is a meaty, succulent nugget” – H. Fearnley-Whittingstall 
We ate every last one and talked about the magical meal for days!
River Cottage A-Z
Garlicky Snails with Breadcrumbs
from start to finish!
Sorry Karen, I hate them so much for eating my plants and trees that I would rather kill them with salt or squish them. I had no idea that anyone would eat these garden snails as escargot. I think I would rather go to a restaurant and have them make them and serve me…oh, well. It may be awhile before that happens!
Marty! You and everyone else! It seems, I am the only one . . . 🙋🏼♀️🤷♀️🤦🏼♀️🤪😂