Snail cover

His history

Who first had the good idea to look for food deep in the shell of snails? For the collective of historians behind the book Food history, published by Fayard in 1996, we began to fall in love with the flesh of gastropods in the Mesolithic, a period during which the warming of the European climate made the presence of big game rare and pushed people to diversify their diet.

It is assumed that the Romans, too, were very fond of the antennae mollusk. Evidenced by the presence, among the many utensils that made up their dishes, cochlearium, a small metal spoon whose long, tapered, pointed handle was probably used to pull snails out of the bottom of their shells.

But it was Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord who permanently established the snail in the history of French cuisine. In 1814, to seduce the Tsar of Russia, who had just come out of an icy interview with King Louis XVIII, Talleyrand, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, invited him to come and dine in his private mansion. He orders Anacreon, his cook, to serve a dish that is both surprising and original. The latter, of Burgundian origin, offers a recipe from his region which is an immediate success: snails cooked in their shells with butter, garlic and parsley. A recipe still consumed today.

Its use

The cover breaks down into three. First the plate: hollowed out of 6 or 12 cells, it accommodates the hot shells and serves as a receptacle for their juice. Next comes the pliers, made up of two branches surmounted by a jaw which allows you to grip the shell without burning yourself or getting your fingers dirty. The fork, finally, which consists of two teeth with sharp points and allows to carry its prey to the mouth easily.

As for the animal in question, it is theHelix pomatia, also called “Burgundy snail”. “This is the species that is best suited to gastronomy, because its flesh is chewy and has a fairly neutral taste. We receive the fresh and disgorged snails. We then pass them in a court-bouillon, then we put them in their shells with our recipes ”, explains Eva-Louise Laporte, director of the aptly named L’Escargot Montorgueil, in Paris. In his establishment, the mollusc has been served in all butters since 1832.