If my french relatives serve escargot at our family meet up is it socially acceptable to ask for salt?

Answer 1

As The Bogus Man said, you most probably won't need to add any. Being French, and having eaten scrumptious escargots for decades, I can't remember having ever needed to ask for salt. May I add that Steph is wrong about the issue of French etiquette? If expressed meekly, in a self-deprecating way ("Sorry, but I've got the bad habit of..." ..."Sorry, but poor English food has damaged my tastebuds"), asking for salt (or even pepper) is perfectly acceptable. If you were American, this tolerance would be extended to ketchup, everyone in France being grateful to Americans who are kind enough to confirm their own redneckness. But I assume you're British or Irish, and thus considered, though inferior culinarily speaking, European hence civilized ;-)

Answer 2

I think you can always ask for salt but taste first. I do think it's a bit rude not to even try the least bit before you start using salt, pepper etc unless you *know* something isn't salted (like an egg you peel yourself), because that means you assume beforehand you won't like it as it is cooked... it can also backfire; a friend of my parents' used to always grab the salt, so my mom rightfully assumed he liked his food salted more than we usually did... trying to be a good host, next time he came over she cooked with quite a bit more salt... forgetting that he always put his salt on *before even tasting the least bit*! So he ended up with a very salty meal ::grin::

In my experience, escargot is usually served with a pretty strong sauce already!

Answer 3

As a Chef, I leave it up to my clients as to the condiments they require and use. It is, after all, their meal!. I cook it to the best of my ability, and if a client wishes to add Ketchup, that is his business.

If you are eating in any outlet other than a fast-food travesteaterie, taste the dish first without adding condiments. My "special" today was a ragout (stew) of beef, which was cooked with tomatoes, carrots (a la ronde), garlic, onions, sage and herbes de Provence, along with a dash of Tamarind pulp, all cooked in a stock that I prepared yesterday from bones, and with separately-cooked potatoes added at the serving-point. Salt added at the table could well have ruined the palatability of this dish. Us chefs know what we are doing, and the jus or sauce in which we cook our dishes will be balanced in such a way that makes the addition of condiments un-neccesary at the table. This being said, no chef will do his nut if someone does add condiments - some people, for example, cigarette smokers, people who have untreated adenoids, people suffering from a minor cold, or a nasal malady such as rhinitis, are unable to taste in full (as a lot of taste actually comes from the nose), and may need to add salt, pepper, vinegar or lemon juice to compensate for their problem.

Chefs are not all like Gordon Ramsay. We know our food and we put a lot of effort into preparing it, but we are not going to go ballistic if you need a bit of salt.

Apropos the snail. I do get baffled when English people turn their noses at the humble escargot, or the grenouille (frogs legs), b ut will belt down oysters at a rate of knots.

Apropos the French. They are not all epicures. I one had a Frenchman add HP sauce to a Dopiaza curry that we had cooked. My Maitre d'Hotel (Head Waiter), who is a Sikh, nearly went apoplectic, especially as the customer compalined that the HP was in sachets, rather than in a bottle (one cannot serve HP in the bottle at table, due to hygeine concerns)

All that us Chefs ask is that you enjoy your food. If you want a condiment and it is not at the table, ask the waiter for it. I asked for Gentlemans Relish to add to my burger in a fast-food joint once - merely as a joke, of course!

Answer 4

Yuck! As far as I'm concerned it would be quite all right to refuse the course entirely. What is the entree, sauteed frog legs?

Answer 5

I am with those who say "Yuck" I say that to haggis as well.
But if you must eat them, ask for salt or anything to cover the flavour...


--That Cheeky Lad

Answer 6

Mon dieu, non! Vous voulez précipiter la troisième guerre mondiale?

Answer 7

Yes, but you might want to try butter, cheese, soy sauce or bacon with your snail treats instead.

Answer 8

Yes ... the snail is already cooked.

However, you will not need it ... l'escargot are naturally salty ... a little garlic butter is the best accompaniament

Answer 9

no, in france it is insulting to the cook to ask for additional items with the meal you were given

Answer 10

how very very dare you ask for salt who do you think you are ?