Snails and Sauterelles

I do plan on sharing a bit about our trip to Florence, but in the mean time, I have a few photos I wanted to post from last night.  

We had some friends over last night for a very conservative Canadian meal of chicken.  One couple decided to bring over a French delicacy to share with us and to add a little culinary adventure (at least for us) to the menu.  When I was first handed a large tupperware container full of shells, I was somewhat confused and thought that they must be meant as decorations for the girls’ room.  It was only after she suggested that I put them into the fridge that it dawned on me there were snails still in the shells and we would be eating them!

Now, I have tried escargots in Canada before. They were barely bigger than a marble, already freed from their shells and well hidden in butter and garlic sauce: a delicate bite that was almost more sauce than snail.  Not the case last night.  These were healthy sized snails (note how large Barry has to open his mouth to fit one in) that you had to stab with a toothpick and slide out.  Grace was all up to try one, but quickly changed her mind when she saw what they looked like coming out of the shell.

The sauce that had been brought to dip them in was delicious, and the taste of the actual snail wasn’t bad;  a bit salty like the broth in which they had been boiled.  For me it was the texture that prevented me from sampling more than one.  Plus, I couldn’t help but make a connection with their close relatives back home in my garden.  Barry braved a second taste for the photo op.  Despite our small sampling, most of them did disappear.

Talk turned to travelling in Cambodia and Thailand and the various bugs that are eaten there.  This prompted one of our guests to boot home and return with a package of “sauterelles”  (grasshoppers) from Japan. Again, I tried one, and only one.  I’m not sure how they had been prepared, but if I had to venture a guess, I’d say that there must be some tastier varieties out there.  

We also had the the good fortune this weekend to learn about the French tradition surrounding the Epiphany to celebrate the day when the three Wise Men came to visit baby Jesus.  Within a gâteau or galette des rois, a small trinket is hidden and whoever finds this trinket in their slice gets to wear a crown and be the king, or queen, for the day.  Thanks to three different social events, three different cakes, and some thoughtful adult intervention, both girls had a chance to find the trinket and be declared queen.