Snails sommeroise (escargots a la sommeroise)
8 Servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | eaches | Snails |
| 1 | x | Vinegar |
| 2 | eaches | Thyme sprigs |
| ½ | each | Bay leaf |
| 1 | each | Basil sprig |
| 1 | each | Pared orange peel |
| 7 | ounces | Pork rind |
| ½ | cup | Olive oil |
| ½ | pounds | Fatty bacon |
| 6 | eaches | Shelled walnuts, ground |
| 4 | eaches | Canned anchovy fillets |
| 3 | eaches | Garlic cloves |
| 1 | x | Salt and pepper |
| 3 | tablespoons | Flour |
| 6½ | pounds | Whole trimmed spinach leaves |
Directions
Preparation time 3 hours. Cooking time 2½ hours. Starve the snails for at least 8 days, then wash them in several changes of water until clean. Rinse with vinegar, then drain. Place the snails in a saucepan of boiling water with the thyme, bay leaf, basil, orange peel and pork rind. When the snails are almost cooked, drain them and remove them from their shells. [I guess boiling them makes it easier to remove them from their shells. --mkm] Brown the snails in olive oil with the fatty bacon, very finely chopped [I assume the author means chop the bacon first. --mkm], the ground walnuts, anchovy fillets, crushed garlic and salt and pepper. Thicken the mixture with the flour, then serve on a bed of spinach. [Make sure you wash all the grit off the spinach first. --mkm] Rose, red or white wines: Tavel, Chusclan, Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence. [From "Larousse Traditional French Cooking."]