The Snail Man: escargot

Some people have true passions; and a rare percent of these people are able to eek out a living on these passions. Such is Marco, a man in the south west of France who lives life gloriously in pursuit of what is clearly his love and passion: snails.

Just a few kilometers north of Saint Girons is the little Hamlet, Barjac. I had heard often of the escargot farm here in Barjac (la Ferme aux escargots de Barjac), one of only two escargot farms in the region. 

              

Feeling adventurous, I decided to bike to Barjac. Yesterday was a perfect autumn day here in Saint Girons: the weather was a pleasant 70 degrees, the sun was still warm, and the air was crisp. The road led me over many hills (as my thighs are feeling today), and past rolling green pasture land where dairy and beef cows stared at me inquisitively. Hawks would beat their grand wings in ascent from wooden fence posts and let the warm air glide them over the valley. 

 When I descended into Barjac, I was greeted by a pleasant man. With a jovial smile, on a stout and strong frame, Marco welcomed us to his farm, restaurant and museum. He started by taking us outside where there was a large square garden covered in grasses. Marco explained that he owns 6 such plots, all lined with a miniature electric fence to keep the snails happily grazing on their combination of 5 types of grasses. All together he produces roughly 350,000 snails per year (after the large number which are eaten by predators such as pigeons, mice, hedgehogs, and oddly lightening bugs). He demonstrated each of these animals by flinging back a curtain like a magician to reveal a display of stuffed and plastic animals-- all of which feast on his snails.

He explained that they only sell mature snails, in order to give snails time to reproduce. A mature snail will reproduce about 6 times a season. He explained that one can tell the difference between the adults and children by wether or not their shells have formed a little upturned ridge near the opening for their heads. A mature snail will have such a "helmet". 

Using a black board and chalk, and paper diagrams, Marco explained how snails reproduce. Snails are hermaphrodites. During reproduction two mature snails will intertwine. Each open up a hole in the side of their heads, and each insert a reproductive organ into the other, continuing to slowly spin in intertwinement.  It's really quite beautiful. Several of his baby snails get sent off to Italy, Spain, other parts of France and even Lithuania. 

A snail in nature can need up to two years to reach maturity because they spend so long "inactive". It greenhouses, where the temperature and moisture are kept consistent, snails can mature within 3 months. Marco uses a combination, bringing the snails inside during the cold winter months, and his snails mature after about 6 months. 

Marco then led us past his restaurant-- a charming spot with great views on the countryside, where one can call in advance to come for dinner. For larger groups they offer two menus, an Ariege menu with grilled snails, boudin, pork chops, sausage, pate, an aperitif and wine; or a Catalonian menu with 3 styles of Catalonian snails. 

Above his restaurant is a snail museum! Marco has collected everything related to snails for the past 14 years. He has a collection of shells from all over the world. Escargo eating utensils, toy snails, books about snails, ceramic snails, paintings of snails, a snail obstacle course and even a snail race track! He tenderly picked up several items to share the story about how he had acquired them. 

Anyone who has ever touched a snail before knows they are quite slimy creatures, and as may be expected this slime is not the most appetizing. To consume snails, they must fast for several days in a dry environment. After several days, they loose most of their mucus, and are ready for consumption. 

I decided to try my luck cooking snails, and so I purchased 100 live snails. 

Firstly, it was difficult to even come across a recipe for how to prepare live snails. Every recipe I encountered called for canned snails. After preparing the live snails, I understood why. Live snails are a pain to cook. 

They must first be dropped into not-quite-boiling water for 4 minutes (cover the lid, as the scene is quite tragic to watch). The water must be drained, because it will be full of any remaining mucus. The snails then go into a vegetable broth, where they must be bathed for about 45 minutes to tenderize. We made a butter, shallot, garlic, anchovy and lemon butter. Ideally, the butter should be placed in the shell of each snail, and then popped into the oven for several minutes for the snails to absorb the buttery taste.