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Q: Snails or Escargots ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   7 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Snails or Escargots
Category: Miscellaneous
Asked by: probonopublico-ga
List Price: $4.00
Posted: 16 Jun 2002 09:05 PDT
Expires: 16 Jun 2003 09:05 PDT
Question ID: 27492
My garden is home to a large population of snails. With millions of
people starving, this seems like a waste of good food. How can I
harvest the snails, prepare them as delicacies, and market them to
discerning French people who seem to relish such things?
Answer  
Subject: Re: Snails or Escargots
Answered By: madsky101-ga on 17 Jun 2002 00:35 PDT
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
Greetings!

Heliciculture, or snail farming, is quite a profitable venture.  Did
you know that the United States exports over 300 million dollars worth
of snail every year?

Although most escargot is of the canned variety, it seems that more
chefs are demanding the fresh stuff.  But don't go dipping into the
garlic butter just yet.  You need to be very careful before harvesting
snails from your garden, for personal or commercial consumption,
because they may be contaminated with poisons.  Snails eat plants, and
that includes plants that are poisonous.  We don't want you messing
around with those little buggers until you are sure they are safe to
eat.   More information about that subject can be found by reading a
discussion on that very subject here:
http://www.premiersystems.com/recipes/appetizers/escargot.html

Once your critters are safe, you can whip up a tasty meal from the
recipes you can find by visiting, 
http://escargot.free.fr/eng/cooking.htm

And if you are really serious about starting your own snail ranch,
there are kits available at very reasonable rates.  Because of weather
factors, snail farming is usually done indoors in a climate controlled
setting.

A company called Rider's Ranch Escargot, sell several types of kit
packages, and will send you any information you need concerning all
aspects of snail farming.  They say the company is growing so fast
that they are needing more suppliers.  Rider's website information
says that they will pay you market value for your stock when it is
ready for harvest.  You can check it out by visiting,
http://www.jdsnails.com/about.htm

Have fun wrangling those snails pardner, and Bon Appetit!


Additional links of interest

Food Network's escargot recipes:
http://www.foodtv.com/foodtv/searchResults/1,6281,,00.html

Scroll down homepage for recipes from Provence!:
http://www.thegutsygourmet.net/france.html

Scroll down for pictures of snails:
http://escargot.free.fr/eng/theblond.htm


Search terms

"harvesting snails"
snail farming+united states
"eating garden snails"
probonopublico-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars
Brilliant ... So much info and delivered so quickly. It's the first
time I've tried 'Answers' and I am seriously impressed.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Snails or Escargots
From: madsky101-ga on 17 Jun 2002 02:53 PDT
 
Thank you so much for the compliment, and I appreciate the feedback.

It was a very interesting subject to research, and it almost made me
want to grab a piece of the snail pie...if it wasn't so slimy :)

Good luck!  Come back and visit real soon!
Subject: Re: Snails or Escargots
From: kemlo-ga on 18 Mar 2003 10:30 PST
 
Bryan
Just thought to look at your first question.
I bet it supprised you to get such a good answer for a flippant (I
hope) question. It is such a useful service.
Kemlo
Subject: Re: Snails or Escargots
From: probonopublico-ga on 18 Mar 2003 11:19 PST
 
Hi, Kemlo

Thanks for your interest!

YES ... I was amazed by the quality of the answer for what you
correctly perceived to be a flippant question.

I really appreciate the service ... and th dialogues with the various
participants ...

Not least YOU!

Are you based in the UK?

Kindest regards

Bryan
Subject: Re: Snails or Escargots
From: kemlo-ga on 19 Mar 2003 11:16 PST
 
Dear Bryan 
  Yes, I live in Lincolnshire, though not under this name. (a hero of
a fifties children's novel.
as to venue, hows ab't the Royal Pavillon.
Regards Simon   {KEMLO}
Subject: Re: Snails or Escargots
From: probonopublico-ga on 19 Mar 2003 11:23 PST
 
Hi, Simon

The Royal Pavilion sounds great.

Incidentally, my Grandmother came from Lincolnshire but then Nobody's Perfect.

Me? I'm from Oldham (Lancashire) originally.

KR

Bryan
Subject: Re: Snails or Escargots
From: probonopublico-ga on 27 May 2003 23:28 PDT
 
This was the first question that I ever asked on GA.

I was just checking to see if it was still around and it was!
Subject: Re: Snails or Escargots
From: kemlo-ga on 28 May 2003 10:26 PDT
 
Just thought I would follow you around to see what you are up to

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