How to cook and freeze grape snails at home

Cooking snails is a complex and more moral matter. After all, they need to be boiled alive, but let’s take it in order.

Before cooking, the snails need to be prepared. You can’t just pick them from the leaves and throw them into boiling water. They need to cleanse the intestines.

To do this, place the snails in a glass aquarium, and pour a little flour on the bottom, at the rate of 2 tablespoons per 1 kilogram of snails. This is the first day. On the second day we put only one spoon of flour, on the third day there is no need to feed them, just moisten them a little with a sprayer. They need moisture more than food.

If desired, you can replace the flour with spices and aromatic herbs, such as dill or parsley, thus saturating the snail meat with the desired flavors.

Rinse the snails and inspect them carefully. For further preparation, you only need live snails. If the snail dies, it will have to be thrown away.

Boil water in a saucepan, salt it a little, and throw live snails into boiling water. This is the most humane way I know.

If you freeze snails alive and only then cook them, you won’t succeed. The snails will hide in the shell, and after boiling you simply will not be able to pick them out.

Stir the snails with a slotted spoon, and note the time; from the moment they boil, you need to cook them for 3-5 minutes, then turn off the gas, cover the pan with a lid, and wait another 10 minutes.

Remove the snails to a plate, and if they have cooled down, you can start cleaning them. Heads and feet are good for food. Use a fork to hook the snail's leg and remove it from the shell. Where the black curl begins is the intestine, and it needs to be cut off or torn off.

The snail has a lot of waste, but it is not a dish that is eaten to fill the belly.

If you plan to cook a Burgundy snail, that is, use the shells for stuffing, then naturally, do not throw them away. Fill the empty shells with boiling water with the addition of baking soda and boil them a little.

Then rinse thoroughly with running water and dry. Seashells can lie indefinitely just on a shelf in the kitchen.

Let's return to snails.

It is better to freeze snail meat. Just put the meat in a ziplock bag and put it in the freezer. Snail meat frozen in this way can be used for frying and stewing.

Cooking and freezing the exotic dish “Snail in Burgundy”

Finely chop the boiled snail meat. Separately, mix the softened creamy meat with chopped dill or parsley. Place a piece of butter in a clean shell, then some snail meat, and then butter again.

Snails prepared in this way should either be cooked immediately or frozen in the freezer. All the ingredients we used here tolerate freezing well. Place the stuffed shells in a bag and freeze.

Before serving, remove the bag from the refrigerator, cover the baking sheet with baking foil, and remember it a little, making some kind of nests so that the snails can lie with the hole facing up.

Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven. The snails are considered ready when the butter has melted.

Freezing a snail is not difficult, you just need to get creative.

How to cook snail, watch the video: