Now I did find a grocery with all my beloved African foods, well almost all. I could have fainted when I saw snails. Now before you turn up your nose, forget what you know or think you know about snails as a meal. Many people are familiar with the french style of cooking escargots, but what I was planning is not that... Not even close. The closest dining experience I've had to the snails I grew up eating was when I went to Chinatown in Toronto with my college friend a.k.a. my soulmate, Hong about six years ago. While the snails were no giants, more or less the size of the escargots you'd get in a french restaurant, they were quite delicious! Cooked in a spicy and savory sauce that I just couldn't get enough of, and the snails were succulent. They were however challenging to eat as the shells were left on - not like challenges have ever stopped me from eating what I want.
Back to the present, I had now found snails just like those from home... Welcome to Africa where the snails are giants and we take the shells off, so all you have to do is eat, eat, eat! I will tell you this; before you can eat them, snails require a good amount of cleaning and prepping. Poorly cleaned snails are not my idea of fun and probably not yours either, so I will share my tips on cleaning snails. Once snails are cleaned, they can be cooked in any fashion you like. Fried, braised in sauces, stews or sautéed with spices, onions, peppers or whatever other vegetable you fancy.
The Art of Cleaning Snails
Please note that I am going off of the assumption that the shells have been removed for you. The technique for shelling snails would have to be a post for another day.
Ingredients
Giant snails
Alum (white stones used in cleaning snails; they can be found in African groceries)
2- 3 Limes
Directions
Start by rinsing the snails in cold water at least three times to remove as much of the slime as possible.
Set up a bowl of water, take one snail at a time and rub the alum stone over it as though you were lathering with a bar of soap. Be sure to get into every nook and crevice as you work over the snail. Place the cleaned snail in the bowl of water, and continue with the other snails.
Once you've cleaned all the snails with the alum, rinse them thoroughly at least two to three times and then let them drain in a colander
Cut the limes in half. Take the exposed flesh of the lime and use that to rub over the surface of the snail. Do this while squeezing the lime, so the lime juice gets to work on the snail. Again, do this for each snail.
Rinse the snail at least two more times. It is important to use fresh water to rinse the snails each time. It is also a good idea to let the snails sit in water for a few minutes (maybe 5-10 minutes) and carefully remove the snails and place in a different bowl. You'll notice that some sediment will have collected at the bottom of the water.
You will know the snails are clean when you can no longer feel any sliminess on the surface of the snail, and the water they are rinsed in, is free of sediment or color.
After cleaning, your snails are ready to be cooked. Like I said earlier you can fry them, boil them, sauté them - basically cook them the way you like them.
Alum stones for cleaning snails
Limes are excellent for cleaning snails, slice in halves and rub away
Snails after cleaning with alum and limes
Snails are ready for cooking after final rinse and being allowed to drain
As daunting as the process of preparing snails may seem, it is really not that bad. I actually quite had fun with it. Then again it could have been the fact that I had music playing in background while I worked. At any rate, all my fellow snail lovers, please do share your snail tales and hopefully my above mentioned steps will help a snail lover in need of some help in the kitchen. What are bees for after all?
