It's hard to believe that the slimy, slow-moving snail can be so delicious.
What are they? Gastropods (single-shelled molluscs) with spiral shells. They can be found on land, in
fresh water and in seawater. They range in size from microscopic to more than 30cm long.
What are the differences? The escargots of French cuisine are typically normal garden snails or a slightly larger type found in vineyards. They can be either wild or raised for consumption. If wild, the snails are starved to rid them of any poisons they may have ingested. They are then boiled (usually in a flavourful broth), pulled from their shells and trimmed of any unsavoury bits (such as the foot and digestive tract). There are many methods of preparing them after that, but the most well-known is when they're stuffed back into their shells and cooked with a garlic-herb butter.
Fresh and seawater snails are eaten in Chinese cuisine and the preparation is typically much quicker than with the garden varieties - they're simply cooked in their shells and the diner removes the inedible parts.
What else? If you're serving untrimmed snails to someone who has only eaten snails in French restaurants, tell them to remove the foot (outside the shell) and digestive tract (at the end of the snail). The body and head are edible but some people find the antennae unsightly, and sometimes the head is slightly crunchy because of the snail's teeth.
