Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Eating Escargot

This is topic Eating Escargot in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 04-25-2009, 12:56 PM:

While I LUV sushi and raw oysters on the 1/2 shell, I have yet to bring myself to try escargot...ya'know, those snails you find in your garden and served at "snooty" restaurants. YUK!

But, my curious side keeps popping up to try them.

Anyone have any tips for me to overcome my mental block and try them?

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 04-25-2009, 02:59 PM:

With a little garlic and butter, they're pretty good. But then again, anything with garlic and butter is pretty good...

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 04-25-2009, 03:08 PM:

Why not just throw the snails in the trash can then eat the garlic and butter?

To me it's not a simple matter of whether I think escargot is gross. I'd eat lobster, shrimp or oysters. Those are just as gross if you think about it.

Escargot simply doesn't register as "food" with me.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 04-25-2009, 03:23 PM:

Randy, NONE of those are "food".

I cannot stand lobster, It's waaaay too rich tasting for me and I feel sorry for them when the (asshole) so-called "cook" puts them alive in boiling water...How FUCKING cruel and SICK!

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-25-2009, 04:03 PM:

Geez Phil do I have to write it out for you again?

If it lives in or around an ocean, it is not food.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 04-25-2009, 04:06 PM:

So Brad, based on your post, YOU consider snails "food"?

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-25-2009, 04:08 PM:

Clearly eating those oysters and sushi has made you go stupid. Hell no, snails are not "food".

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 04-25-2009, 04:10 PM:

HA! [fu]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-25-2009, 04:12 PM:

Need I remind you of this very important thread from the past?

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 04-25-2009, 04:16 PM:

That thread has NOTHING to do with this topic!

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 04-25-2009, 04:22 PM:

Sure it does. Just like this thread, it discusses nasty shit that people eat. [Razz]

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 04-25-2009, 06:08 PM:

Ian ordered escargot at dinner one night while a bunch of us were in Dallas. I think Danny and Scott were the only takers on samples.

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 04-25-2009, 07:10 PM:

I've eaten the damned things twice, both to be nice. The snails as far as I can tell have no flavor. Stir fry some rubber bands at low temp with the butter and garlic. When you eat them either spit 'em out or gulp down whole, they'll pass thru.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-25-2009, 08:51 PM:

I like shrimp, halibut and tuna but I can't see why anyone would eat escargot, lobster, crab or oysters on purpose. [puke]

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 04-25-2009, 09:03 PM:

The best way to eat escargot is to visit France. Doesn't make the snails any better, but hey, at least you're in France.

Tried them once in High School. Chewed that sucker for 20 mins and couldn't get it down. Tasted like a piece of gristle rolled in a freshly mowed lawn and dipped in butter and garlic.

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 04-26-2009, 12:57 AM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
I like shrimp, halibut and tuna but I can't see why anyone would eat escargot, lobster, crab or oysters on purpose.

C'mon Mike, those guys work hard to catch those crabs..haven't you seen "Deadliest Catch"?

I like tuna and ate the others just for the halibut. [Big Grin]

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 04-26-2009, 01:16 AM:

If you think eating snails is particularly exotic or adventurous...you should watch "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" on the Travel Channel sometime. Keep in mind that what people in some parts of the world find disgusting, others see as a delicacy. For instance, there are a lot of people who think that eating cow or pig which we in the Western world like so much is really disgusting and offensive - and not all of these people are "terrorists".

Actually, we people in the Western world, especially here in the US with all those fast food and standardized restaurant chains, eat some of the nastiest shit on the planet. All that industrially produced, processed nasty stuff, all the greasy, fatty, breaded, deep fried nastiness made from animals kept in mass production facilities where they drown in their own shit. Stuff like the burger patties we all like so much which are essentially made from leftover parts, ground up assholes and earlobes - does it get any nastier than this?

I have tried snails ("escargot") a couple of times, cooked in their shell in garlic butter, or in soups (my mother used to make a creamy soup with white wine, walnuts and snails sometimes). I don't think they taste exceptionally great or even have much taste at all. But good snails have a good chewy, "al dente" texture which can be an attractive addition to some dishes or quite tasty in itself if prepared in the right way.

I am also a big sushi and oysters fan and I quite like lobster although I don't crave it quite as much as some people do. I had never really tried lobster until fairly recently though when I moved to the East Coast and got to try really fresh Maine lobster a few times. I like it, but I don't think it tastes that exceptionally good. I would kill for really good fresh shrimp though - which is hard to find. The frozen stuff loses a lot of the texture. I had some really fresh shrimp in Mexico which tastes quite different from the frozen stuff.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 04-26-2009, 12:52 PM:

I don't eat a lot of lobster or shrimp. Like Michael, I'm not especially fond of it. I like it when it is fresh and well prepared. I never really liked it at all until I lived in Boston.

I really don't like shrimp when it is boiled. I much prefer it grilled. I won't eat lobster unless it is broiled. Boiled lobster is icky!

Same goes with oysters and clams. I don't like them raw or boiled/steamed. I like a good clam chowder or oyster stew but I don't like them by themselves. I will occasionally eat them if there is a clambake... A REAL clambake... The kind where you dig a hole and fill it with burning coals. Then, again, that goes back to eating grilled/broiled seafood vs. boiled.

For me, it's all about the preparation.

Calamari? Forget it! Not food! I don't eat squid!

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 04-26-2009, 09:30 PM:

I tried calamari once. A friend had some in a restaurant and since I didn't know what it was (and it didn't look too bad) I gave it a shot. It was rubbery....is it always like that? Anyway, it wasn't worth a repeat try for me.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 04-27-2009, 02:07 AM:

GOOD calamari is not rubbery. It's tender and delicious...especially with a bit of tartare sauce.

I quite like Escargot as well, but agree it's nothing without the butter and garlic.