ALSATIAN SNAILS

Recipe for snails’ gourmets

Many gourmets admit that it no more relevant to cook meat and pork, therefore they are trying to find something unusual, but at the same time tasty. This recipe is for those cooks, who are not afraid of gastronomic experiments.

Alsatian snails

 Alsace, as a historical region of France, is situated in the northeast of the country. It borders with Germany and Switzerland. Taking into account that Germans prefer fat and spicy food, cuisine of Alsace is rich in spices.

This is where Alsatian snails recipe came from. This recipe combined gentle escargot with aromatic herbs and butter. Usually, this Alsatian cuisine dish is called Escargot. It is not recommended to use frozen snails, as they may lose their taste quality. You can take marinated or canned snails instead.

 “ Alsatian snails”

Preparation for two persons will require:

• Grape snails 20 pieces
• butter 150 gr
• parsley 1 batch
• thyme – 1 batch
• garlic 2-3 cloves
• carrot 1 piece
• bulb onion 1 piece
• shallot 2 pieces
• bouquet garni for flavoring
• breadcrumb 200 gr
• white wine 200 ml
• salt, pepper

For boiling the shellfish, remove it from shells. Put water, some white wine, carrots, onions, thyme and fragrant herbs to the stew pan.

Escargot should be kept on fire for 40-60 mins. During this period, snail meat gets aroma and fragrance. White wine makes it soft and gentle. Fill the empty shells with the butter and put them on the bread crumbs. The butter will melt and penetrate into bread. As soon as the snails are cooked, add finely chop parsley, garlic and shallots. It is necessary to add the chopped greens to the butter and mix it in the blender to get homogeneous substance. Stuff the shell with the boiled shellfish and out oil and greens on the top. Place the stuffed shells into the oven the cook them for 10 minutes more at a temperature of 180 degrees.  When oil becomes bubbly and gets golden color, the dish is ready. It can be served warm with a glass of white wine, Chablis.