For many people, snails surely seem exotic or even intimidating. However, they are highly appreciated in many Mediterranean countries, especially in Spain, France and Greece. If we buy already clean snails, their preparation is very simple and quick. Otherwise, we must observe certain previous steps, which are indicated here.
Ingredients:
1/2 kg of snails
For the sauce:
250 g of crushed tomato
1 onion
1-2 cloves of garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper, paprika, chopped parsley
Optional ingredients:
1 ñora (dried red pepper)
A glass of wine
Some diced Serrano ham and/or chorizo
Despite being an exotic ingredient for many people, snails are highly appreciated in several Mediterranean countries. For example, les escargots de Bourgogne are an absolute delicacy for the French. They are also very common in Greece, especially in Crete, where they are known as hochli. And they are also highly appreciated in Spain, especially in the Balearic Islands and other coastal areas, where it is common to find them in many “tapas” bars.
Until not so many years ago, it was common for people to go out to the forest or mountains after a rainy day, in order to collect snails. Currently, most of the snails that reach our tables come from farms. That is why it is also common to get them in the supermarket already clean, sometimes even cooked, frozen, etc.
Even so, it doesn’t hurt to first describe the previous step of cleaning the snails, in case we need to do it ourselves.
How to clean snails:
The pre-cleaning step is very important, as we don’t want any dirt to get into the sauce.
Put the snails in a large pot and cover them completely with cold water. Remember that for the entire process described, we must always use cold water. Add a generous handful of salt and rub the snails with your hands. After a few minutes, discard the dirty water, add new water and repeat the process as many times until the discarded water is clean.
In the washing process the snails will begin to come out of the shell; discard those that don’t, as it means they are already dead.
Cooking the snails:
Put the cleaned snails in a large pot and cover them with water, which should always be cold. Optionally add a bay leaf and a few cloves of garlic. Cover and cook over low heat, so that it doesn’t boil too quickly. After the water begins to boil, remove the foam that appears on the surface and cook for about 20-25 minutes.
Prepare the sauce:
The sauce can be prepared in parallel while the snails are cooking. It does not differ greatly from other tomato sauces for any type of stew.
Heat a little extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan. Chop the onion and garlic. Sauté them over moderate heat. When the onion is poached, add the crushed tomato (without skin or seeds). At this point, it is possible to add some “ñora” meat, a glass of white (or red) wine, and even a few cubes of serrano ham or chorizo. Season to taste with salt, pepper and paprika. The sauce will be ready when the tomato liquid has evaporated (and if we want to thicken it a little more, you can add a little flour and stir for a few minutes while it cooks). At this point, drain the snails and add them to the pan. Mix so that they are well coated with the sauce and cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Sprinkle a little chopped parsley on top and serve with some slices of a nice bread to dip in the sauce.
How to eat snails
Toothpicks are normally used to remove the snail from its shell. In France, restaurants even offer a special set that consists of a kind of gripper and a special fork with only one long “tooth”.