Mike is a walking encyclopaedia of snail facts and tells me that gastropods have been consumed by man since the first days of humanity. Until the 14th century, says Mike, there were some who thought that snails were in league with the devil “because they had no legs and were close to the ground”. The Church forbad the eating of them and they became the food of the poorest in France, along with frogs’ legs. When famine struck, the church relented but insisted that the snail be “purged of its sins”. They decided the way to do this was to make the snail “spit”, which was done by sprinkling salt which causes the snail to create mucus, a defence mechanism.
Though a sustainable resource, it wasn’t until the early 20th century that farming snails in France became automated and industrialised. The industry is now regulated, farming of snails in certain months of the year is forbidden and in 1979 a law was bought in to protect the species.
These days that snail spit has a high value – it’s used in medicine and predominantly in cough mixture. There are just three ingredients in it says Mike, water, calcium and basic animal molecule products.
“It’s not really slimy at all” he assures me and wipes a snail across the back of my hand and tells me to rub my hands together. He’s right, my skin is left feeling peachy soft, clean and dry - “it’s pure protein” Mike assures me. No wonder cosmetic companies are investigating snail juice in the use of skin cream.
“Our ancestors would rub snails on wounds to heal themselves… and if you have a cough, lick one” he urges and offers me a large snail which I decline as politely as possible. He passes its undercarriage over his tongue and it immediately produces spit “it’s really not that bad” he says. I’m not won over.