HELICID.E. — SNAIL. 25 



Another French Recipe for dressing Sfiails. — In spring 

 and autuuin, the snails which are found in the vineyards 

 are good to eat, for those who like them ; and to clean 

 them and make them easy to get out of the shell they 

 must be dressed as follows : — Take a handful of charcoal 

 ashes, and put it into a saucepan or kettle with some 

 soft water, or water from a river; when it boils, throw 

 in the snails, and leave them for a quarter of an hour. 

 When you find the snails can easily be picked out of the 

 shell, take them and place them in some tepid water to 

 cleanse them ; then, again, put them into fresh water, and 

 let them boil for a minute or so, take them out, and 

 let them drain. Put into a saucepan a piece of butter, 

 with a bunch of parsley, chives, a clove of garlic, two 

 cloves, thyme, a bay-leaf, basil, and some mushrooms 

 then add the snails, being careful that they are well 

 drained. Pass the whole over the fire, adding a little 

 flour moistened with broth, a glass of white wine, salt, 

 and pepper, and let it simmer till the snails are quite 

 tender, and till the sauce is nearly dried up in the pan. 

 Serve them up with a sauce made as follows : — Take 

 the yolks of three eggs, beat them up with some cream, 

 warm it, but do not let it boil, add a little white vinegar 

 or verjuice, with a little nutmeg.* 



Dijon method of cooking Snails. — Boil them in water 

 with some thyme ; take them out of their shells ; place 

 in the shells some fresh butter, kneaded with chopped 

 parsley; replace the animal in its shell, and cover it 

 with some more of the butter, etc. When required for 

 eating, place them on an iron dish, or on one of porce- 

 lain. They are placed side by side, with the mouth of 

 the shell upwards, in little holes in the iron or porcelain 



* c La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise.' 



