Snails?

I have a little bet going on with my chef -

We are looking into doing a Snail dinner. I think people would be interested to learn more about snails (ie, how they are farmed, cooking them, etc)

He thinks people won't come.

so I put it out there, to the foodies of the area - Do you like snails? Would you like to learn more about them? Or am I wasting my time putting effort into planning something like this?

I've never been a huge fan of escargot -- even the Thai version at Krystal Thai (Crystal Lake) is just a reason to eat spicy stuff with a little chewy morsel of seafood, and the French version is just an excuse to eat garlic in large quantities.

Conch, on the other hand, can be made into awesome fritters, stews, etc.

I've never had whelk, but I'm willing to try.

I wasn't a huge fan of snails until I had them in Paris, and my whole idea of what they taste like changed. If your chef can find snails in the shell and try to cook them like the ones below, I'll be there.

I enjoy eating snails when they're called something pretty like "escargot." Not too interested in learning exactly where they come from or how they're farmed. Sort of like calling shrimp bottom-feeders or crayfish mudbugs, don't really want to know that. Although cooking techniques would be interesting.

Well he is French, so I guess we'll see

personally, I'm intrigued to meet the "snail wrangler" (I don't know if thats a technical term, but I like how it sounds, so I'm going with it.) I grew up on a cattle farm, so I suppose the idea of a snail farm seems interesting.

jannamae008 wrote:I grew up on a cattle farm, so I suppose the idea of a snail farm seems interesting.

The main difference is that it's much easier to get out of the way of stampedes on a snail farm.

jannamae008 wrote:Do you like snails?

Yes I do.

I suppose it could be anywhere, but something tells me that those snails are from LTH. Is that true, oh BBQ Bear? I'm planning a March adventure with Sparky and friends to Chinatown and might put that on our menu.

Mhays wrote:I suppose it could be anywhere, but something tells me that those snails are from LTH. Is that true, oh BBQ Bear?

M,

You are 100% correct, snails are from 'Little' Three Happiness, and delicious. Bit of work to eat, typically popped out of of the shell with the pointy end of a safety pin, but well worth the effort.

Enjoy,
Gary

'Little' Three Happiness
209 W Cermak Rd
Chicago, IL 60616
312-842-1964

stevez wrote:

jannamae008 wrote:I grew up on a cattle farm, so I suppose the idea of a snail farm seems interesting.

The main difference is that it's much easier to get out of the way of stampedes on a snail farm.

i suppose it's a little slimier though.

also, true story, there is a picture of me (somewhere) as a child in a cow costume, with all the primal cuts delineated, for a parade. I don't think snail farmer children would have such an opportunity.

What are the primal cuts of snail?

jannamae008 wrote:Well he is French, so I guess we'll see

personally, I'm intrigued to meet the "snail wrangler" (I don't know if thats a technical term, but I like how it sounds, so I'm going with it.) I grew up on a cattle farm, so I suppose the idea of a snail farm seems interesting.

Are these going to be truly freshly farmed escargot? Except for periwinkles, like Gary's dish, you don't see live escargots for sale. If it is going to be variations of snails taken from canned sources, I think the sameness of taste will not be too interesting.

My French teacher in junior high school was a Jewish child hidden in Belgium during World War II. She would go hunting for escargot in the garden after rain, then dine on them a few days later after feeding them a neutral diet to cleanse their systems. Now that is the kind of escargot I would be willing to pay for.

If there is a live snail farmer, where are they located? There is supposed to be a turtle farmer in Iowa who is on my to-do list to find this source. While anything is possible, I never heard of people raising escargot here.

Regards,

Hmmm...this might be the only commercial crop possible in our 1,000 square foot townhouse...do I need to wear overalls?

Mhays wrote:do I need to wear overalls?

No. You only need non-slip shoes.

Then you can start collecting snail caviar.

Which, honest to God, I had at Schwa the other night.

Out of sheer curiousity, I did a bit of googling. Here's a site that tells you how to set up a snail farm (looks to need more space than we've got) and a fascinating article on "snail containment" by the USDA.

Cathy2 wrote:

jannamae008 wrote:Well he is French, so I guess we'll see

personally, I'm intrigued to meet the "snail wrangler" (I don't know if thats a technical term, but I like how it sounds, so I'm going with it.) I grew up on a cattle farm, so I suppose the idea of a snail farm seems interesting.

Are these going to be truly freshly farmed escargot? Except for periwinkles, like Gary's dish, you don't see live escargots for sale. If it is going to be variations of snails taken from canned sources, I think the sameness of taste will not be too interesting.

My French teacher in junior high school was a Jewish child hidden in Belgium during World War II. She would go hunting for escargot in the garden after rain, then dine on them a few days later after feeding them a neutral diet to cleanse their systems. Now that is the kind of escargot I would be willing to pay for.

If there is a live snail farmer, where are they located? There is supposed to be a turtle farmer in Iowa who is on my to-do list to find this source. While anything is possible, I never heard of people raising escargot here.

Regards,

http://millardsturtlefarm.com/

regarding snail origin, I know that currently we use Burgundy snails, which do not come in live. I'm not sure if the wrangler is coming here from France then, I just know that my chef tells me "he has a guy". Which I suppose could really mean anything.

Mhays wrote::D Out of sheer curiousity, I did a bit of googling. Here's a site that tells you how to set up a snail farm (looks to need more space than we've got) and a fascinating article on "snail containment" by the USDA.

theres a whole section on "preventing Escape." Maybe they DO stampede!

Kennyz wrote:I wasn't a huge fan of snails until I had them in Paris, and my whole idea of what they taste like changed. If your chef can find snails in the shell and try to cook them like the ones below, I'll be there.

Kennyz - may I ask where the restaurant was in Paris? We're going in early April and your picture looks wonderful and I'm looking for recommendations as we've never been there before. Thanks

Which of course reminds me of the punch line to one of the great shaggy dog stories of all time:

Did you see that S car go?

j r wrote:Which of course reminds me of the punch line to one of the great shaggy dog stories of all time:

Did you see that S car go?

chicagogrrl wrote:

Kennyz wrote:I wasn't a huge fan of snails until I had them in Paris, and my whole idea of what they taste like changed. If your chef can find snails in the shell and try to cook them like the ones below, I'll be there.

Kennyz - may I ask where the restaurant was in Paris? We're going in early April and your picture looks wonderful and I'm looking for recommendations as we've never been there before. Thanks

Bistro Camille is the name, but you'll have to look up the address, as I have no idea. Further description and pics in this thread.