There are lots of ways the snails are prepared in France, but I’ll only talk about the traditional escargots that I had. First the snails have to be washed to make sure they’re clean for eating. Then, they’re boiled inside their shells. After that, they’re taken out of their shells one by one and lightly cooked again in a sauce of butter, garlic, basil and other herbs (yum!). While the snail meat is being prepared, the shells are more carefully cleaned and set aside. That’s because when the snails are done cooking, they’re stuffed back into the shells!
Finally, the re-shelled snails each receive a healthy stuffing with extra garlic-butter paste and then these go into an oven for a final bake. The snails are placed in a special plate with divots, or indentations, for each shell—usually six or 12, depending on how many you order. The end result is a buttery, delicious-smelling dish where you actually have to work to get the little piece of snail out. I was given a snail fork to help me pry the meat from the shell, which made the experience all the more fun.
Yes. All over the world, people have been eating snails for thousands of years. In France it is very traditional to eat escargots. They are a popular food that used to be harvested wild. The snails like to come out right after the rain, and in the French countryside, people still collect them. Kids will go out with the adults to gather snails and bring them back home to be prepared. But in cities, escargots is really expensive. There, it is only eaten as a rare appetizer or on special events.
