Fresh Sea Snails with Garlic Butter
Instructions:
Sea snails—periwinkles—are infinitely tastier than garden
snails, though they’re tiny, which makes cleaning and
eating them a bit of a hassle. (You can buy garden snails
canned if you like.) You could substitute minced ginger
or shallots for the garlic or chill and serve the finished
snails over a bed of greens, drizzled with Vinaigrette. If you have canned snails (escargots), just heat
them in the garlic butter over low heat and serve. Slices of
baguette are the usual accompaniment, for dipping in
the juices.
2 pounds fresh snails (periwinkles)
1 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar or rice
vinegar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley leaves
MAKES: 4 appetizer servings
TIME: About 11/2 hours, largely unattended
- Put the snails in water to cover and mix in the cornmeal; soak for at least 30 minutes (1 hour is better), stirring occasionally. During this time, pour off the water once or twice and refill (leave as much of the cornmeal in the bowl as you can), mixing with your hands and rinsing as you do so.
- Drain the snails and put them in a medium saucepan. Cover with fresh water and the vinegar and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium and cook for about 15 minutes.
- After the snails have cooked for about 10 minutes, cut the butter into pieces and melt it over medium-low heat in a small saucepan. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or just until the garlic loses its rawness. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
- Remove a snail from the pot and, using a pin or toothpick, try to pull the snail from its shell; if the operculum (the hard disk at the opening of the shell) falls off and the snail meat comes out easily, the snails are done. If not, continue cooking until the snails are ready. Drain the snails, then return them to the pot with a couple tablespoons of the butter. Garnish with parsley and serve with pins or toothpicks to remove the snails, along with the rest of the garlic butter.