Mafe de caracol

Ingredients

Snails

• 2 kgmangrove snails
• in the shell
• coarse salt and lime, for cleaning
• water, for purging

The sauce

• 300 ggroundnut paste
• or smooth peanut butter
• unsweetened
• 2onions, chopped
• 5garlic cloves, crushed
• 4tomatoes, chopped
• 3 tablespoonstomato purée
• 4 tablespoonsred palm oil
• or any oil
• 3bay leaves
• 2chillies, chopped
• 1stock cube
• about 1 litre water
• salt and black pepper

To serve

• plain white rice
• or fufu
• chilli sauce
• lime wedges

Directions

1. Cook them long and very properly. Snails are tough and need long cooking. Discard any that smell musty or taste bitter. Use unsweetened plain groundnut paste. Check the label for added sugar. That separation shows it has cooked enough. Put the live snails in a large container. Cover it with something they cannot escape.
2. Use a lid with small air holes. Discard any that die during it. Rub the snails hard with coarse salt. Salt draws out the slime they produce. Rub and rinse them repeatedly. Rub them with lime juice as well. Rinse them thoroughly in cold water.
3. Repeat until the water runs clear. This takes real time and repetition. Keep going until they are clean. Boil them briefly to loosen them. Give them about ten full minutes.
4. Pull the meat out with a fork or a hook. Cut off the dark end portion of it. Discard all of that part entirely. Rub the shelled meat with salt and lime. Rinse it thoroughly once more. It must be removed as well now. Put the cleaned snails in a pot. Cover them over with fresh water. Add a bay leaf and a little salt. Bring the pot up to a full boil. Cooking them takes a full hour.
5. Set aside all the cooking liquid. Strain it well before using it. Heat the palm oil in a large heavy pot. Add the chopped onions to the pot. Cook them for a good ten minutes. Add the crushed garlic to them. Cook it for two more full minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pot.
6. Add the tomato purée along with them. Cook them down for about ten minutes. The tomato must cook right down. Oil should separate at the edges. Raw tomato taste should be entirely gone.
7. Put the groundnut paste in a bowl. Take a ladle of the hot cooking liquid. Whisk it into the paste until smooth. Add more liquid until it pours. Thick paste added straight to the pot lumps. Pour the loosened groundnut into the pot. Stir it right through thoroughly.
8. Add the rest of the cooking liquid. Add the bay leaves and chillies. Crumble the stock cube into it. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Let it cook for about thirty minutes. Stir it regularly so it does not catch. Stir right into the corners each time. Keep the heat low right throughout. Judging the sauce takes a look.
9. Oil should separate and rise to the top. That separation is the sign it is ready. Cook it on until that taste goes. Add the cooked snails to the sauce.
10. Let them simmer for twenty more minutes. They take up the sauce as they sit in it. Taste it and adjust the salt as needed. Add plenty of black pepper as well. Squeeze in lime if it tastes flat. Serving it is always done piping hot. Ladle it over plain white rice. Put chilli sauce out on the table. It keeps three days refrigerated.

Technique

• Snails must be purged before cooking: kept alive with clean water but no food for two or three days so they void their gut contents, then rubbed hard with coarse salt and lime to draw out the slime, rinsed repeatedly, shelled, and cleaned again since more slime comes out afterwards. Discard any that die during the purge, and cut off the dark digestive end when shelling.
• Some snails can carry parasites, which thorough cooking kills entirely; never eat them raw or undercooked, and give large ones a full hour of simmering before they go into the sauce.
• Thick groundnut paste added straight to the pot lumps and those lumps never disperse, so loosen it first with a ladle of the hot cooking liquid whisked in until it pours; and groundnut sauce catches and burns very easily, so keep the heat low and stir right into the corners.

Substitutions

• Unsweetened smooth peanut butter stands in for groundnut paste, but check the label for added sugar.
• Any oil works in place of red palm oil, though it gives a paler result.

Variations

• Mafe is made across West Africa, usually with meat or chicken rather than snails.
• The chilli level varies considerably between households.
• It is served over rice or with fufu alongside.

History

Uses the large snails gathered from mangrove roots in the coastal creeks, a protein source for river communities.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mafe de caracol?

Mafe de caracol is a soup & stew from Guinea-Bissau: mangrove snails simmered in peanut sauce with bay leaf and pepper. Uses the large snails gathered from mangrove roots in the coastal creeks, a protein source for river communities.

How long does Mafe de caracol take to make?

Mafe de caracol takes 1 hour plus purging of preparation and 2 hours of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Mafe de caracol?

Yes, within limits. Unsweetened smooth peanut butter stands in for groundnut paste, but check the label for added sugar. Any oil works in place of red palm oil, though it gives a paler result.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mafe de caracol?

Pull the meat out with a fork or a hook. Cut off the dark end portion of it. Discard all of that part entirely. Rub the shelled meat with salt and lime. Rinse it thoroughly once more. It must be removed as well now. Put the cleaned snails in a pot. Cover them over with fresh water. Add a bay leaf and a little salt. Bring the pot up to a full boil. Cooking them takes a full hour.