Monday 24 May 2010

National Escargot Day?

Who knew there's a national day for snails? Yes, today, the 24th May 2010 is apparently National Escargot Day. Why we can't use the English word for these garden molluscs (or slugs with armour, as I think of them) I'm not sure, but there you go, or should that be escargot?

The internet today abounds with suitably slimy puns about shellebrating these unassuming little squidgy invertebrates, not least of which Cafe Rouge's celebration of the snail - it took me a few seconds to realise that (in their URL) they've abbreviated National Escargot Day, rather than decided to give all snails the friendly nickname Ned!

Cafe Rouge kindly sent me a snail day parcel including recipe card and ingredients for a few easy snail dishes, which I'll be trying this week, probably in classic garlic butter with some crusty white bread, a dish I enjoy in France from time to time but have never made myself.

It's also a rather well timed day, given some blogger friends' recent mutterings about gathering some common or garden snails for their tables. This blog has some great tips on finding, keeping, purging and preparing such snails before cooking them in a variety of different ways.

Have you ever harvested snails from your garden to eat? If so, how did you get on?

No comments: