Escargot is a French word for snail. If you want to know more, you may read it here.
So anyway, I was intrigued with the beautiful shell and its taste.
Anyway, my curiosity suddenly came alive and I just had to try these snails. For me and my culture, eating snails is very bizarre. But I believe these are common food and sometimes considered a delicacy (you may correct me here) for many people. It wasn't cheap, either. Each snail was $0.99 before tax. I only bought 10 of them (couldn't buy too much to satisfy my curiosity). :)
The snails I bought already had seasonings on them. They consisted of parsley, garlic, salt, and butter combined together and stuffed into each shell.
They had to be baked at 400 F for at least 10 minutes before serving. I served them with baked French baguette to soak up the juices.
I had to admit I was not fond of eating these 'creatures'. Poor little snails. Images began to form in my head, but I dismissed them immediately. :)
Using a little metal thingy for eating corn (I have no idea what it's called), I scooped the snail meat out of its shell.
First off, it actually looked like an alien on TV. Seriously! The color was dark and its shape was weird in some way (kind of round). My advice to you if you want to eat these for the first time, close your eyes!
The texture was chewy, but not like calamari chewy. It was surprisingly soft and salty. Snails did not have a distinct taste, and the parsley butter was overpowering the meat. Eating them with the French baguette was perfect. The bread absorbed both the juice and the melted butter.
Délicieux!!
Now, back to my question above: is escargot worth trying? My answer is "Yes, definitely!"
It actually looked good, but don't go hunting snails in your backyard. Poor little snails. :)
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