How to eat snails—French style

I had a craving recently for snails. I took the easy way out and bought them frozen. With just a quick heating up in the oven, I was good to go. This is the traditional way to serve snails and is called Escargot Bourguignon. The snails are cooked with a persillade sauce, a concoction of butter, parsley and garlic. Note—this is just one way to prepare and eat snails, there are many, many more. If you order them in a restaurant, they may or may not come in the shell. But, if they do, here's how you eat them.

These are my snails, hot from the oven.

First step, pick up a snail with a pince à escargot (snail clamp). Don't attempt to pick one up with your fingers—they're hot! Insert your tiny fouchette à escargot (snail fork) and pop the snail out of the shell and into your mouth. Chew, swallow, contemplate how something so slimy can taste so good.

Don't waist that buttery, garlicky goodness that's left behind in the shell; tip it over onto a slice of crusty french bread. Take a bite, swallow, close your eyes in satisfaction, contemplate how healthy garlic is for you (forget the butter).

Take a sip of red wine. Feel all is well in the world. If it happens to be a '99 Bourdeaux, so much the better.

Repeat the process. Watch the shells pile up. Sigh when you get to the last one.

Food, France