HungryForever

SNAILS AND OAK LEAF LETTUCE

You can pick the snails for this salad yourself. I have done this, though it is quite emotional. A few years ago on Tiree in the Hebrides we collected a positive feast’s worth of snails, but what was to follow was too much for one of our party. You have to starve them, so they were put in a bucket covered in pierced cling film to prevent escape and left to purge. Days seemed to pass watching the poor captive snails leaving trails of snail poo on the sides of the bucket. Eventually someone cracked and freed them, much to everyone’s relief. If you are of harder heart and can get over this difficult stage, which takes about four days, you should then parboil your snails for about 20 minutes. Remove them from their shells with a pin. Simmer for 1 hour, by which point they will be ready for the salad. There are snail farms now, so fresh snails are available.

Servings

Ingredients

6 Shallotspeeled and finely chopped
8cloves of garlicpeeled and finely chopped
a splash of extra-virgin olive oil
1cup red wine
1 large or 2 small heads of oak leaf lettucewashed and separated but not shredded!
4in pieces of toastbread sprinkled with extra-virgin olive oil and bakedthe oven until crisp
sea salt and black pepper
24 SNAILS
a big handful of chopped curly parsley
a splash of Vinaigrette

Instructions

Fry the shallots and garlic in the oil until soft, then add the wine and reduce. While this is happening prepare the base for your salad: put the lettuce into a bowl with the toast slightly broken.
When the wine has reduced so that you have a red moving gunge in your pan, season and toss your snails in the mixture so they are thoroughly heated through. (Alternatively, you can replace them in their shells and smother them with butter, garlic and parsley.) Add the snail mixture to the salad bowl, with the parsley and vinaigrette, toss thoroughly and serve straight away.