What can you say about Snails?

Often when driving along through Portugal - and in particular in the Algarve - countless cafes and homestyle restaurants called tascas put out signs reading “Ha caracóis!’ or ‘Temos caracóis!’ to let passers-by know they have snails on offer.

Local customs say that snail time is between May and August (traditionally any month not containing the letter ‘r’ apparently), when nets containing these molluscs start to appear hanging by some restaurants’ doors and in food shops, and are one of the most appreciated appetisers by the Portuguese, being a delicacy from Lisbon down to the south coast of Portugal. They are often served in a dish or small plate, together with a toothpick or a fork, for patrons to painstakingly dig them out of their shells - and are more often than not accompanied by a cold beer or a cool glass of white wine.

These small snails – caracóis - are land snails, carefully harvested from the wild are collected particularly after a shower of rain, and although not all wild snails are edible, the scientifically named Helix pomatia or Helix apsersa are the most common ones consumed.

Some of the bigger, chunkier ones, the ‘caracoleta’ are even farmed, which to be honest, I didn’t take seriously when I first heard of this, but it is a complicated and profitable business some farmers are turning to because their large size allows year-round income with a price that compensates for its captive exploitation.

Most land snails are hermaphrodites – being both male and female, so it is here that the strength of the shell is important, and new animals are lost if the shells are weak. Apparently, mating is a violent process, and afterward, the molluscs are exhausted and may even die, and this occurs from January to March and from August to September. The problem is that it lasts about 12 hours, in which the caracoletas are clinging to one another. And the saucy little creatures don’t ‘join’ with the first partner they meet. The search is hypothetically based on the calcium of the shell, and once ‘chosen’, they stick together, so that no one separates them. Each caracoleta lays an average of 100 eggs. The reproductive process usually only happens only once in their lives, with spawning taking place ten days later.

Secret Recipes

It is known that since the time of the Roman Empire, snails have been consumed, particularly in the area that is now the Iberian Peninsula and France. But it seems that snail consumption goes back to the time of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. The snails were fed with flour, aromatic herbs and wine in order to make the meat unique and tasty. There are many receipts for snail preparation, and different countries have many diverse secrets for cooking them – including the world-famous cuisine of France.

Snails actually don’t have much taste but take on the flavour of the ingredients they are cooked with. Their texture is firm and slightly chewy, comparable to that of squid and mussels. On average, snails contain 16 grams of protein per 100 grams of edible meat. They apparently are a healthy food, as they are rich in proteins and low in fats and calories. Mineral salts such as magnesium, iron, zinc and copper are also in their components.

In Portugal, the small ones are cleaned first and boiled in water to remove any impurities, then are cooked on a low heat with salt and oregano. Afterward, they are finished in a broth composed of onion, bay leaf, garlic, white wine and olive oil, and sometimes pieces of chorizo and our famous piri-piri sauce are added to make the flavour even more intense. The bigger ones, caracoletas, are roasted with salt and served with a sauce, usually of mustard.

I personally wouldn’t eat anything that could crawl down my throat on its own, even the English specialities of cockles and mussels, and while Portuguese snails may not be to everyone's taste, they are considered a beloved cultural tradition in Portugal and can be found in many restaurants and cafes throughout the country.

Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man. 

Marilyn Sheridan