look at that S car go

[the_siobhan]

This picture is from one of our pig roasts. We have hundreds of snails in our backyard.



So my question is; does anybody know if they are edible?

(I know they eat really well. Mostly because they eat all my plants.)

Comments

[greylock.livejournal.com]

I have no idea.
I can tell you that they are more colourful than Australian snails, which lack the white stripes.

Anyway, would you want to eat snails?
More specifically Canadian garden snails that are probably brimming with chemicals?

(Where's JV?)

[lilactime.livejournal.com]

There appears to be a variety of sites that will tell you what land snails are edible, but you've first got to identify the species, as none that I came across had images, just the proper latin names.

I don't see why they wouldn't be, though.

Look at that S car go

[betonica.livejournal.com]

I had no idea anyone remembered that old joke.

They look a lot like the ones we had in Berkeley, except that the stripes are, probably, more distinct (Are they actually brown and white? Or do they have more color? I can't tell from the picture. Ours were brown and white, with perhaps hints of green or yellow, but nothing dramatic). I was told that the Berkeley snails were escapees from someone's batch they brought over from France, so, in fact, they were precisely the same as the French delicacy.

Perhaps a local French restaurant would know? Or the local nature club might have the species so you could look it up. Little old ladies in nature clubs seem to have the most amazing trivia at their fingertips - I recommend asking them first.

[rbowspryte.livejournal.com]

Garden snails are perfectly edible just not as big or considered as yummy as cultivated varieties of the same thing.

[50-ft-queenie.livejournal.com]

If they're edible, I'll be camping out on your front porch armed with garlic, wine and butter. I love snails.

[machineplay.livejournal.com]

I love snails, but not like that! Poor snails. :(

[eveofdstruction.livejournal.com]

Do you guys have a university agricultural extension up there? That is who I would ask. The issue would really be whether they carry any problematic bacteria or fungal infestations. The huge land snails in Hawaii, while technically edible, carry nasty stuff that will make you very sick and that isn't effectively killed by cooking. I believe that is true of some other regional snail populations as well. Otherwise, mmmm, gastropoda.

[latemodel.livejournal.com]

If they're edible, you need to process them properly. This involves fasting them on cornmeal for a few days to clean any questionables out of their digestion. That is, you put them in a cage on a bed of cornmeal, and wait until only their slime trail only contains cornmeal (and not other things). One big danger, especially in urban areas, are snail baits. Your neighbors may have put out poison to kill these pests, and you don't want to eat that stuff.

Here's a good article (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2003/05/05/urbananimal.DTL) on eating one's snails in California.

[meetzemonsta.livejournal.com]

This was just posted (http://community.livejournal.com/food_porn/4661894.html) in food_porn today.