SC - snails and other things.

[Cindy Renfrow]

<snip>
>>  Q: When does the earlist recipe for snails occur?
>
>I'd like to hear about this. Anyone got any recipes? I have seen canned
>snails in the grocery store, but didn't have any idea how one would cook
>or eat them. I can very well imagine them being served at a medieval
>feast. Although without forks I'm not sure how to eat them. Perhaps you
>were to dig them out with a knife. Or perhaps they were served to the
>table already out of the shells.
>
>Stefan li Rous
>markh at risc.sps.mot.com
>

Hello!  A few random tidbits for you...

There are 3 recipes for snails in Apicius.

>From Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais, 1483-1553:
'Then he doused the leaves (and pilgrims) with salt, vinegar, and oil, and,
for refreshment before supper, began to eat.  He had already swallowed five
pilgrims and the sixth lay under a leaf, completely invisible save for his
staff, when Grangousier pointed to the latter.
"Look, Gargantua, that's a snail's horn.  Don't eat it!"
"Why not?  Snails are good this month."'

Hartley mentions snails in 'Food in England' & says the large edible
variety was imported by the Romans.  She also mentions periwinkles -
they're removed from their shells when cooked using a pin.

Also, if you count Whelks as being overgrown 'snails', there are a few
recipes in the Harleian MSS. c. 1450.

HTH,

Cindy/Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net


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