Ingredients
Snails
- 24giant African land snails, live
- coarse salt and lime or lemon, for cleaning
- 2bay leaves
- 1onion, halved
Marinade
- 4garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbspgrated ginger
- 2 tbspoil
- 1stock cube, crumbled
- 2 tbsptomato paste
- 1 tspblack pepper
- juice of 1 lime
To grill
- 2scotch bonnet or piment, minced
- 1onion, in squares for the skewers
- oil for basting
- salt
Directions
- Purge the snails for 24 hours in a covered, ventilated container with cornmeal or clean greens and no soil, changing it once. Then take them out of their shells, put them in a bowl with a large handful of coarse salt and the lime, and rub them hard for several minutes. Rinse and repeat two or three times until the slime stops coming and the water runs clear.
- Boil the cleaned snails in fresh water with the bay and halved onion for a full hour, at a proper rolling simmer. This step is not for texture and cannot be shortened — see the notes.
- Drain, and cut each snail into two or three bite-sized pieces, trimming off the dark viscera at the tail end.
- Mix the marinade and toss the snail pieces through it. Leave for 30 minutes; longer does no harm.
- Thread the pieces onto skewers alternately with squares of onion, packing them fairly tight.
- Grill over hot charcoal for 8–10 minutes, turning and basting with oil, until the edges char and the marinade has caught. Scatter with minced chilli and salt.
- Serve straight off the brazier, with lime to squeeze over.
Technique
- The hour of boiling is a health measure. Giant African land snails can carry the rat lungworm parasite, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which causes a serious form of meningitis, and grilling alone does not reliably reach a killing temperature all the way through a snail. Boil first, always, and wash your hands and every surface the raw snails touched.
- Do not eat the snails raw or lightly cooked under any circumstances, and do not shorten the boil to keep them tender. Toughness is the price of the safety step.
- Snails gathered from anywhere that may have been treated with pesticide or molluscicide should not be eaten at all.
Substitutions
- Frozen, already-cleaned snails are sold in African groceries and still need the full boil.
- Any firm mushroom takes the same marinade and grill for a version without snails.
Variations
- Gathered in the rainforest after rain and grilled at roadside braziers, this is a standard Libreville street food. The same snails also go into a slow palm-oil and pepper stew.
History
Giant African land snails are gathered in the rainforest after rain and grilled on skewers, a standard Libreville street food.
Frequently asked questions
What is Escargots?
Escargots is a street food from Gabon: giant land snails skewered and grilled with chili at roadside braziers. Giant African land snails are gathered in the rainforest after rain and grilled on skewers, a standard Libreville street food.
How long does Escargots take to make?
Escargots takes 40 min plus purging of preparation and 1 hr 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Escargots?
Yes, within limits. Frozen, already-cleaned snails are sold in African groceries and still need the full boil. Any firm mushroom takes the same marinade and grill for a version without snails.
What is the most important thing to get right in Escargots?
Do not eat the snails raw or lightly cooked under any circumstances, and do not shorten the boil to keep them tender. Toughness is the price of the safety step.
