Snails: France’s most famous dish is shrouded in mystery. Here you can find out everything you need to know about snails | Explanatory video

When I ask French chef Alexis Besseau about snails, he laughs.

“It’s more of a cliché tourist thing,” says the head chef of La Louisiana tells me.

Still, it is something he says the Adelaide restaurant sells a lot of so significant, his Australian The supplier could not keep up with the enormous demand.

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Snails are considered a flagship dish of French cuisine, but their centuries-old origins – and their rise to haute cuisine – have been shrouded in mystery for just as long.

Like paella, lobster and quinoa, snails were originally considered a “peasant’s food” and it was widely believed that they first appeared as a common dish in ancient Rome. However, cave paintings show that edible snails have been consumed by people all over the world since prehistoric times.

It was the abundance of edible snail species in provincial France that made them a staple food for local people hundreds of years ago. However, if you ask a Frenchman about snails today, they’re more likely to roll their eyes than pick up a fork.

A typical example: Besseau.

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“The movies have made it a classic because all the tourists and stuff want to try something iconic, but the real French don’t really eat a lot of snails,” he says.

That may not be the case across the pond, but in Australia, snails are considered the crème de la crème of fine dining. La Louisiane, says Besseau, sells at least 50 to 60 portions of them a week.

“There are snails on almost every other table,” he says.

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Some historians claim that snails became so famous in France in the Middle Ages because their classification as a “shellfish” made them very popular with Catholics, who could eat them on meat-free Fridays.

Others argue that snails were not popular at all because the church considered them unclean.

Like the origins and increasing popularity of snails, their gentrification from a simple, everyday meal to a luxurious indulgence has become the stuff of legends, of which not a single story can be counted as true.

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The most common story is the visit of Tsar Alexander I of Russia to Prince Talleyrand, Napoleon Bonaparte’s chief diplomat, in 1814.

According to the story, the imperial party stopped at a restaurant in Burgundy and panicked because there was nothing suitable to serve.

Carême is said to have gone into his garden, seen some snails and Garlic, Parsley And butter to hide the taste, et voilà! Dinner – and a dish that has gone down in history – was served.

At least the garlic-parsley-butter component sounds plausible according to Besseau – snails are known for their extremely bitter taste.

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What is the difference between snails and snails?

Not every species of land snail is edible, some are even poisonous to humans. The edible species of snails are specially prepared by farmers and chefs to make them safe for consumption.

The most popular species for cooking and eating is Helix pomatia – also known as Burgundy snail – the most consumed species from France, which Besseau imports from a farmer in France for his customers in La Louisiane.

Once there, they go through a complex preparation process: the snail is degummed, rinsed, placed in broth, seasoned, put back into the snail shell and then roasted.

It is International French Fries Day (July 13)

Snail recipe

Snails with garlic butter according to Simmone Logue It takes less than 15 minutes to prepare (if you have already bought cleaned snails) and serves less than four people.

Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• ½ teaspoon Maldon salt
• ½ cup salted butter, softened
• 1½ teaspoons finely chopped shallots
• 1 tablespoon dry white wine
• A few pinches of black pepper
• 1 heaped tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
• 16 snails (fresh or canned)
• 16 sterilized snail shells

You can find the full recipe here.

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