John Myers
The Roman snail is a land snail up to 10 centimeters long. Its brownish housing is characteristic. The crawling sole of the animals is protected by a dense slime.
Origin
Garden snails are distributed from central France to western Ukraine and from southern Sweden to northern Italy. They prefer calcareous, moist soil. Even the ancient Romans valued the Roman snail as a delicacy. Already around 50 B.C. It was bred by the Romans and spread throughout Europe over the decades. Many monasteries created snail gardens because the animals could also be eaten during Lent, as they are neither fish nor meat.
Season
Live snails are available from May to October. Since Roman snails are under species protection, they must not be collected from nature. So only bred specimens should be used. Roman snails are available frozen or canned all year round.
Taste
Snails have a firm consistency and have a slightly earthy note. The taste is otherwise essentially determined by the way it is prepared, for example by adding herb butter.
Use
Fresh snails first have to be cleaned and cooked for a long time. The preparation is more convenient with already pre-cooked snails from the can or the freezer. They are only warmed up before consumption. “Escargots de Bourgogne” – Burgundy-style snails – are not only considered a special delicacy in France. They are served with a garlic butter sauce or used as a soup ingredient. Special snail cutlery, consisting of tongs to hold the shell and a narrow, two-pronged fork, helps with consumption.
Storage/shelf life
Fresh snails are prepared immediately after purchase. Frozen goods are already pre-cooked and, of course, have a correspondingly longer shelf life due to deep-freezing. This also applies to canned goods.
Nutritional value/active ingredients
Snails contain around 1g of fat per 100g. They also contain 13 g of protein and 2 g of carbohydrates. The calorific value is 72 kcal/301 kJ.
The Roman snail is a land snail up to 10 centimeters long. Its brownish housing is characteristic. The crawling sole of the animals is protected by a dense slime.
