3rd Year Special Annual Double Issue Vol 4 Issue 1 & 2 Jan - Apr 2 3rd Year Special Annual Double Issue Vol 4 Issue | Page 117

ADVENTURE & WILDLIFE
agent.
However,
this
is
not
without
problems, as the decollate snail is just as likely
to attack and devour other gastropods that
may represent a valuable part of the native
fauna of the region.
Garden Snail
As Food
In French cuisine, edible snails are served for
instance in Escargot à la Bourguignonne. The
practice of rearing snails for food is known as
heliciculture. For purposes of cultivation,
the snails are kept in a dark place in a wired
cage with dry straw or dry wood. Coppiced
wine-grape vines are often used for this purpose.
During the rainy period, the snails come out of
hibernation and release most of their mucus
onto the dry wood/straw. The snails are then
prepared for cooking. Their texture when cooked
is slightly chewy.
As well as being relished as gourmet food,
several species of land snails provide an easily
harvested source of protein to many people in
poor communities around the world. Many land
snails are valuable because they can feed on a
wide range of agricultural wastes, such as shed
leaves in banana plantations. In some countries,
giant African land snails are produced
commercially for food.
Land snails, freshwater snails and sea snails are
all eaten in a number of countries (principally
Spain,
Philippines,
Morocco,
Nigeria,
Algeria, Cameroon, France, Italy, Portugal, Greece,
Bulgaria, Belgium, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia,
Cyprus, Ghana, Malta, Terai of Nepal, China,
Northeast India states such as Manipur, Tripura
and parts of the United States). In certain parts of
the world, snails are fried.
For example, in Indonesia, they are fried as satay,
a dish known as sate kakul. The eggs of certain
snail species are eaten in a fashion similar to the
way caviar is eaten.
Cornu aspersum, known by the common name
garden snail, is a species of land snail. As such
it is a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc
in the family Helicidae, which includes some of
the most commonly familiar land snails. Of all
terrestrial molluscs, this species may well be the
most widely known
Burgundy Snail
Helix pomatia, common names the Roman snail,
Burgundy snail, edible snail or escargot, is a
species of large, edible, air-breathing land snail,
a pulmonate gastropod terrestrial mollusc in the
family Helicidae. It is a European species.
Decollate Snail
In Bulgaria, snails are traditionally cooked in an
oven with rice or fried in a pan with vegetable oil
and red paprika powder. Before they are used
for those dishes, however, they are thoroughly
boiled in hot water (for up to 90 minutes)
and manually extracted from their shells. The
two species most commonly used for food in
the country are Helix lucorum and Helix pomatia.
Vol 4 | Issue 2 |Mar - Apr 2019
117