do french people really eat snails??

Question

you see it in a numerous amount of tv shows and movies. whenever a character goes to france or talks about it, there is always a reference to france and snails. i wanted to know if people in france REALLY ate snails. answer plz!

Answer 1

Yes we do, but as with every food some don't like it (I don't). With butter and garlic. And it is a specific breed of snails. And cooked.

http://chezregaletvous.free.fr/escargots.jpg

Note : and it is true as well about frog legs. Yum. :D

Answer 2

French Snails

Answer 3

Yes, and if it is done right it tastes pretty good.

Escargot has long been considered a delicacy. The snails are specially breed and are not your average garden snails. They don't have much taste to them, but they do cook well and melt in your mouth.

When the escargot (snails) are prepared they are cooked in garlic butter, lots of garlic and lots of butter. They are served hot and are delicious. But, the worst food in the world is cold escargot. The butter seems to vanish the garlic just stinks and the snails themselves are like chewing rubber.

People in the world do have delicacies that we think are strange and exotic, but if we grew up there we would like as well. In Japan the best part of the fish is the head, but here in America we throw it away. The Japanese laugh at us. In Africa they eat chocolate covered ants, and lots of people say that rattlesnake meat tastes like chicken.

What food is strange and what food is not depends on the dinner, your culture, and how willing you are to experiment. Lobsters are excellent and loved throughout the United States. But, who thought up how to prepare it? If you kill a creature then its bowels relax and its waste products flow. To some this is too distasteful so they won't eat it, in the case of the lobster it is poisonous. However, if you boil the lobster it won't realize that it is dying and it won't release those toxins so it becomes edible.

In the Orient the Fugo Fish has a meat with a deadly toxin, and that toxin is released into the body of the fish when it is killed. However, it doesn't spread through out the body. If prepared properly and the poisonous gland is removed properly then it becomes a very tasty treat, but a slip of the knife can make that tasty treat lethal.

How do people first come up with the idea to do these things? Who thought of chocolate covered ants, and why are the eggs of a sturgeon supposed to be so tasty? That’s the real question.

But, yes people do eat snails, and it is very common in Europe, especially France. However, there are stranger things in other countries.

Answer 4

I actually searched and hunted for snails with my uncle. We went to a wooded area. Right next to the woods were patches of tall grass. He showed me how to find snails. In France, there are laws protecting snails. You are allowed only two weeks, or something like that, during the year, if I remember correctly it's in May, where citizens could gather snails to eat. First you have to clean them by soaking them in salted water for a few days. You have to change the water often. Then you could cook them with fresh cream, celery, and carrots and put the sauce and snails on a puff pastry. Delicious.

Answer 5

I once tried living off the land on a survival training exercise. Snails don't taste of anything very much so I guess the French have suckered aficionados by using butter and garlic to create what would otherwise be a very bland source of protein.

Answer 6

They are called Escargots. A wonderful French cuisine, it is a dish of cooked land snails and usually served as an appetizer. It is wonderful!

Yes the French invented it so they would certainly eat it. When cooked properly, it is truly delicious, smothered in butter and garlic. You use your bread to soak up the butter. The snails are prepared out of the shell in most cases, then placed into the shell. I have seen it made in and out of the shell but try it you just might join the many who love it.

The French word escargot means snail.

Not all 116 species of snail are edible, but many are.

You just might love them!!!! LOL

Answer 7

Yes, i took french class and we learned that snails (escargots) are a delicacy. I never tried it, but yes people really do eat snails. hahaha you should see what some of the things that asian people eat as a delicacy. lol much worse then snails.

Heres some pictures:
http://www.rob.com/pic/weird/Escargot.jpg (jk)

http://www.alwaysfreshfish.com/escargot55.jpg

Answer 8

Some of us do eat snails, but not so much and it's not a common meal.

Answer 9

yes we do! escargots de Bourgogne (Burgundy snails), it's a special butter that makes the taste..
Without this butter the taste is quite bad! and don't look at them! once I've looked at one before putting it in my mouth, I was disguted during 3 years...

Answer 10

It's not just the French people that do it i have don it and so have a lot of people that i know but the French are known for it.:)