escargot: photo by b.bowman
Escargot [ehs-kahr-GOH]
The French word for Snail. In culinary terms the little mollusk is traditionally served baked in the shell with a sauce of garlic, shallots, parsley and butter.
Escargot Culinary History
Discarded roasted snail shells found in archeological digs indicate that prehistoric humans enjoyed "escargot". Pliny described Fulvius Hirpinus' snail garden as having varied species of snails and feeding them on wine and cornmeal. Ancient Romans, and later, other Europeans ate snails during festivals, Lent, Mardi Gras and Carnival. There are edible land snails ranging in size from 1/4 inch to giant African snails growing up to 12 inches. The traditional escargot is the common garden-variety snail. Escargot (French for snail) are available fresh, chilled, canned, or frozen.
Traditional Escargot Recipe
I N G R E D I E N T S
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 7-oz can snails, rinsed
I N S T R U C T I O N S
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Purée butter, garlic, parsley, and shallot in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper.
Divide half the garlic butter among sterilized snail shells. Stuff with snails (1 per shell) and remaining garlic butter.