Escargot

Escargot is the French word for edible snails, and also the name commonly used for a dish of snails cooked in their shells with garlic and parsley butter. The snails are usually removed from the shells before eating.

Use prepared, cooked snails: put one in each cleaned shell or a small ovenproof dish, add garlic-parsley butter and bake at 200 °C for about 10 minutes, until piping hot and bubbling. Serve with bread to mop up the butter.

Hold the shell with snail tongs or a folded napkin, then use a small fork to pull out the snail. If it is served without shells, eat it with a fork; bread is useful for the garlic butter.

Keep fresh or cooked escargot covered in the fridge and use it promptly; do not leave it at room temperature for more than two hours. Store unopened tinned or jarred snails in a cool cupboard, then refrigerate leftovers in a covered container and use within a couple of days.

Garlic and parsley butter are the classic pairing, often served with crusty bread. Escargot also works in puff-pastry vol-au-vents or with mushrooms, herbs and a little cream.

No. Raw snails can carry parasites and harmful bacteria, so eat only snails from a food source, prepared safely and cooked thoroughly. Do not collect garden snails to eat.

Yes. A 100 g portion provides 17 g of protein, making escargot protein-rich compared with many foods.

Their nutrition is very similar: escargot has 17 g of protein per 100 g, while edible snails have 16.6 g and Roman snails 16.1 g. Names often refer to the species or preparation rather than a major nutritional difference.