10 



NATITEAL SCIENCE NETO. 



Translated for llie Natukal Science News. 



Snails as Food. 



Carl Vogt, in the Gartenlaube. 



Snails were first used for food 

 on the northern coast of the Medi- 

 terranean, and it is there that they 

 are still eaten in the greatest num- 

 bers. It is strange what taste is ex- 

 ercised in selecting them. No one 

 ever thinks of eating the large red, 

 brown, or black road snails, which 

 have no shells, but crawl about 

 naked, though these are sometimes 

 cooked into a shiny broth, which 

 is popularly regarded as a remedy 

 for wasting diseases. Snails, how- 

 ever, are gradually disappearing 

 from the popular Materia Medica. 



The farther we go to the south- 

 ward the more general becomes the 

 use of Snails with shells for food. 

 In central Germany and down the 

 Rhine it is only the large brown 

 vineyard Snail which is eaten. In 

 Fulda, especially in the neighbor- 

 hood of Ulm, these are reared in 

 vast numbers and they were former- 

 ly shipped by millions in barrels 

 down the Danube to Vienna, there 

 to be reshipped to more distant 

 places. 



Farther to the north Snails are 

 regarded with as much disgust as 

 Englishmen have for frogs, but 

 they are eaten in large quantities 

 all over France and in Burgundy 

 they are prepared by a particular 

 process which has grown popular 

 in Switzerland. Every day in Ge- 

 neva I go from my home through 

 the city by the Caronge street, 

 passing a number of restaurants, 

 in the windows of which are the 

 never failing plates of ^Escargots 

 a la mode de Boi/rgogne,''' with their 

 yellowish white, green speckled 

 contents. In Switzerland they eat 

 not only the vineyard Snail, which 

 was introduced from the south, but 

 also the Helix aspera, first import- 

 ed by the Monks. The latter spe- 

 cies is finer flavored than the for- 

 mer and is reared in large quanti- 

 ties in Freiburg Uechtland. 



As soon as we pass the Alps we 

 find a greater variety of Snails in 

 the markets and the farther south 

 we go the more and more popular 

 they become as an article of food. 

 They are eaten in great quantity in 

 Naples and Palermo, and also in 

 Barcelona and Granada. Ross- 

 massler, the great authority on 

 Snails, was greatly surprised on 

 seeing the large numbers of them 

 collected among the arid chalk 

 hills which surround certain Span- 

 ish cities. 



In the north none are eaten but 

 those having porous opercula with 

 which to close the apertures of 

 their shells on going into winter 

 quarters. The Snails are first 

 boiled and then the bodies are 

 withdrawn from the shells and pre- 

 pared in various artistic ways. In 

 the south such nice distinctions are 

 disregarded, and they are eaten at 

 all seasons, whether provided with 

 the operculum or not. Snails are 

 often stewed in open kettles on the 

 streets, and a plateful can be had 

 for a soldo. This will prove suffi- 

 cient and the stranger who tastes 

 them will never ask to be helped 

 again. Yet when they are prepar- 

 ed in the Burgundian way, chop- 

 ped with butter, eggs and fresh veg- 

 etables, they make a delicate and 

 apetizing dish. 



Along the coast Sea Snails of 

 various kinds compete with those 

 of the land. Whoever breakfasts 

 on the coast of Bretagne, in 

 Nantes, Concarneau, or Brest will 

 be surprised by seeing the waitress 

 approach with a plateful of pretty 

 little spiral Snails, beside which 

 lies a large pin bent into a hook. 

 Until the more solid courses ap- 

 pear the guest whiles away the time 

 by picking out and eating the 

 Snails. Many guests become very 

 skillful at this, yet I do not believe 

 that they can satisfy their appetite 

 with these little things, which by 

 the way are delicious morsels. 

 This singular custom is not wide- 

 spread, for east of Brest, in Mor- 

 laix, Roscoff and Saint Malo, I 

 have never seen Snails collected or 

 eaten, although they are to be 

 found in abundance in those places 

 and may be seen clinging to all 

 rocks and stones left bare by the 

 ebb tide. 



Equally whimsical tastes prevail 

 along the northern Mediterranean 

 regarding the Patella, which is 

 very abundant there and is left 

 high and dry at ebb tide and does 

 not recover its animation until the 

 water rises and covers it again. 

 In the summer when we crossed 

 Villafranca bay from Nizza, to 

 spend our Sundays under the lofty 

 olive trees of Beaulien the party 

 would disperse, to wade about, 

 with trousers rolled above the 

 knees, in search of the Patella. 

 These Snails clung so firmly to the 

 rocks that the men often carried 

 chisels to pry them loose. Still 

 no Snails were saved for mealtime, 

 they were all devoured, fresh like 

 oysters. I cannot say that I en- 

 joyed barnacles as my Nizzian ac- 

 quaintances did, the nearly circu- 

 lar foot of solid muscles by which 



the animal attaches himself and 

 which forms the principal part of 

 the body, appeared to me to be 

 tasteless, and hard enough to break 

 one's teeth. 



The people of Roscoff and vicin- 

 ity must be of the same opinion, 

 for they never eat barnacles, al- 

 though they can secure them in 

 large quantities. Women, child- 

 ren and old men follow the reced- 

 ing water, each carrying a sack and 

 an iron implement, which is bent 

 into a sharp angle, sharpened on 

 the outer edge and supplied with a 

 handle, for loosening the animals 

 from the rocks. They collect the 

 barnacles in their sacks, carry them 

 home and feed them to the hogs 

 and poultry, which often have no 

 other food. 



In this way the poor fowls get 

 a vile flavor of train oil and fish, 

 so the next year when we return- 

 [ed to Roscoff for a prolonged stay, 

 we sent orders for our landlady to 

 buy up ducks and chickens two 

 months before our arrival and feed 

 them on grain and clover to free 

 them from the taste of train oil. 

 It cannot be denied, however, that 

 the fowls grew very fat on shell 

 fish, though the flavor of their fat 

 did not suit our palates. Yet there 

 is no disputing about tastes, for 

 Icelanders prefer rancid butter to 

 fresh, and the people of Botz is- 

 land like their train oil geese best. 



Although the Bretons do not eat 

 the barnacle until it has been di- 

 gested and has assumed the shape 

 of some warm blooded animal, they 

 still regard the sea ears, Haliotis, 

 as great delicacies. Who does 

 not know these spoon shaped 

 shells, broad, shallow, ear like and 

 slightly twisted at the smaller end, 

 whose interior shines like mother 

 of pearl, and whose exterior is 

 pierced by a series of holes through 

 which the water can penetrate, 

 even.when the animal is firmly at- 

 tached to the rock. The shell is 

 as large, or larger than an out- 

 spread hand, and the whole inner 

 surface is occupied by a huge, 

 thick and solid foot. The foot re- 

 sembles that of the barnacle al- 

 through the animals are totally dis- 

 similar. 



The sea ears are only accessible 

 at the time of the lowest tides, dur- 

 ing the equinoxes. During ordi- 

 nary low tides they are covered by 

 several meters of water and can 

 only be obtained by dredging, at 

 least that is the case at Roscoff. 

 Even during the lowest ebb none 

 but those most familiar with the 

 region can venture out to take the 

 Ormcaux. It is very easy for the 



