You would think that after stepping around so many of those large, glow-in-the-dark green and black slugs, particularly the ones that have been unceremoniously smushed on the roads, one might never be able to eat a snail again. But I have to say that I still love those tasty, little suckers!

            My introduction to escargot (French for snail) was many years ago at a Keg restaurant, where they remain a permanent menu item. Jordan insists on calling them slugs, and you can always tell a green waiter; he looks at Jordan like he is a nut case. A more seasoned waiter is used to the sobriquet.

             The snail may well have been the first animal eaten by man as evidenced by the mounds of snail shells found at prehistoric sites. The Romans were said to have been addicted to them and were the first to practice heliciculture, or snail farming. They experimented with different diets, feeding them wine and spicy soups to alter their flavour.

            It was no coincidence that in many Continental and French style restaurants, escargot often accompanied frog legs and turtle soup on the menus. In the largely Catholic France, these were all considered fish, and could thus be eaten on non-meat days.

The fact that snails still remain popular today may result from two things: they are a perfect excuse to eat fresh bread soaked in rich garlic butter, and they are the perfect low cost item to help restaurants balance their food cost. A typical price for a can of 36-50 escargots is $2.00, and that is retail. It would be even less wholesale. A typical price for a starter course of six slugs in six mushroom caps is $8.00. You can do the math!

Helix pomatia, also known as the Roman, vineyard or escargot de Bourgogne snail, and H. aspersa, the petis gris or common garden snail, are the most popular eating snails. It shouldn’t be surprising that Gabriola is home to many snails, as well as the homeless slugs. We have the ideal temperature and humidity for them. The petit gris is the most widespread of snails. European settlers likely brought it into other countries for the purpose of eating. Unfortunately, they have become major pests in agricultural areas.

These two snails are still collected from the wild in France, but restrictions on collection are becoming increasingly tight. Few, if any fresh snails are exported to other countries. Until fairly recently, the only snails you would find in a restaurant here in Canada would be from a can or frozen, cultivated in Indonesia or Turkey.

Because escargot-lovers increasingly are demanding fresh snails, heliciculture has become a profitable venture. However, because snails pose a large risk to the farming community, there are many regulations governing the growing and the shipping of live snails. There are a variety of techniques used to raise the snail, but they all involve some method of containment, including one method of using an electric fence. Look out; there goes another rampant herd of escaped snails now!

            Snails, whether natural or cultivated, require a purging step before they can be safely eaten. If left “free-range” the snails may eat vegetation that is poisonous to man, so they must be starved for several days and then fed one to two weeks on innocuous vegetation such as lettuce. Then they still require intensive washing, cooking, and gut removal.

The secret for getting the uninitiated to eat a snail without it seeming like an episode of Fear Factor is to disguise it.  A naked snail is not for the weak of stomach. For this reason, you will usually find them served stuffed inside something. It also helps not telling anyone what “escargot” means.

The classic restaurant style was to serve the cooked snail stuffed into a cleaned snail shell. The shells were set in a crockery escargot dish, covered with garlic butter and cheese and then broiled. You were given an implement that always reminded me of an eyelash curler and a tiny fork. Of course, it was almost impossible to get a grip on the shell, which ended up in your lap or your partner’s.

Today, you will more likely find the snails served in mushroom caps, sitting in the same crockery dish, but requiring no special equipment. Flavourings can vary from Pernod and cognac, to curry and tarragon, but always, always lots of garlic. They can also be served at home elegantly in small vol-au-vent pastry shells, available in any freezer section.

Wouldn’t eating be dull if it were all steak and potatoes?