ewww. Alice, how are you coming with that puppy? Margaret L
> Well, Carol, I guess just about anything is edible as long as it isn't
> poisonous!:)
Alice
The French love snails, as most Americans know. And they are served in expensive restaurants in Copenhagen, since good food is considered French food!
Carol
I am afraid you mix up snails and slugs (without a house on their backs)
Carol. Nobody would pay money for your Iberian killer in a restaurant. In
fact only one species of Helix snail is eaten so and not before these
critters have been conditioned on a marinated meal diet. Most slugs and
snails eat very bitter and unpalatable plants in the garden and that takes a
few weeks to get rid off.
john
> The French love snails, as most Americans know. And they are served in
expensive restaurants in Copenhagen, since good food is considered French
food!
sort
> of pinkish-beige spotted "cellar snail" (lots in my backyard), the
edible
Helix aspera and helix pomatia are both eaten John. In fact although aspera
is smaller most people would prefer both taste and texture I think. And
they don't need the meal diet for conditioning - any untainted outside
leaves of snail friendly salad veggies such as lettuce will do nicely. I've
hunted helix lactea and helix aperta with friends in France and Italy as
well, and gather all the above except pomatia here in county Dublin. Theba
pisata is also common on the shore here but I haven't had a handy container
with me when I've seen them there in large numbers. Limax maximus - the
giant garden slug - is certainly edible, and I've seen references
confirming Carol's claim that the killer slug is also edible.
kathryn
At 01:58 13/11/2003, you wrote:
The brown snail is known as Helix aspersa, Kathryn. A fellow named A.
Delmas introduced them to California, establishing 5 colonies of them, so
that poor people would have a source of food. Gardeners in California and
across the southern U.S. have since cursed his move. Margaret L
I'm sorry, but my reaction to eating snails (or slugs) remains the same
- Eeeewww!!! Yuck!!
Tony
Kathryn Marsh wrote:
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
Margaret
I'll take your word for it since I don't own a mollusc reference of my own.
I've obviously had it wrong all my life - my only consolation is that I'm
not alone - of the approximately seven and a half thousand google results
two thirds have aspersa and one third aspera. The obvious solution to this
particular plague is the dinner table.
kathryn
I wrote a paper on that snail to complete requirements for my M.S.,
Kathryn. We moved before I had quite finished coursework. I always
thought the "aspersa" referred to the leftward spiral of the shell, but it
apparently refers to the coloration. "Aspersa" is besprinkled or
spattered. The spiral is leftward, but I have no idea from whose
perspective. The news that shocked me when I worked on that paper was that
after I smashed them with a shovel, they can crawl off and repair that
shell. Eeewwww!!! I don't have a taste for garlicky chopped rubber
bands...Margaret L
Well, the black forest slug, which has the exact same physical characteristics as the Iberian slug, sometimes even the same color, since there is a red variety of the forest slug, has been eaten in Copenhagen at finer restaurants for ages and ages. I had a friend who was a waiter and told me this in the seventies.
Carol
Thanks for setting me right Kathryn. I must admit I have only eaten H.
pomatia so far and with a good garlic butter they are scrumptious indeed.
The Limax slug was used sugared against colds in days gone by and I have
even tried that one out. It is still very far from the culinary delight of
the Helix.
John
> Helix aspera and helix pomatia are both eaten John. In fact although
aspera
> is smaller most people would prefer both taste and texture I think. And
> they don't need the meal diet for conditioning - any untainted outside
> leaves of snail friendly salad veggies such as lettuce will do nicely.
I've
> hunted helix lactea and helix aperta with friends in France and Italy as
> well, and gather all the above except pomatia here in county Dublin. Theba
> pisata is also common on the shore here but I haven't had a handy
container
takes a
> The brown snail is known as Helix aspersa, Kathryn. A fellow named A.
> Delmas introduced them to California, establishing 5 colonies of them, so
> that poor people would have a source of food. Gardeners in California and
> across the southern U.S. have since cursed his move. Margaret L
At least this means that there is sufficient calcium in the environment. In
many parts of Ireland there is not a snail to be found. I am only just
beginning to see snails on my land after a loooong time of improving the
soil. No edibles yet.
John
You would not be able to find out how they were prepared Carol? I have been
torturing my brain since reading your mail and I am still "boggling" over a
possible recipe.
john
> Well, the black forest slug, which has the exact same physical
characteristics as the Iberian slug, sometimes even the same color, since
there is a red variety of the forest slug, has been eaten in Copenhagen at
finer restaurants for ages and ages. I had a friend who was a waiter and
told me this in the seventies.
I remember making the shell discovery myself - fortunately our local thrush
and blackbird population sits and watches when I turn stones over - and we
do enjoy the chewing if they are around in large numbers
kathryn
Would you like a few petit gris to get the population going John :-)
kathryn
I think they are steamed and served with garlic butter, as has been suggested on the list. Somewhat like artichokes.
Carol
There are a few H. pomatias populations in Drimoleague and that is only 6
miles away and a good bit lower down. It is just beginning to look possible
to transplant some over here.
John
> At least this means that there is sufficient calcium in the environment.
In
