Show SNAIL EATING From The Spectator We shall never in all likelihood grow to share the French taste for the edible snail though the big escargot is common enough in many parts of Eng land where tradition says they were introduced by the Romans and still live on round the sites of their villas The escargot is really at its best when taken in the vineyards at the end of March and the beginning of April They live on the shoots of the vines and during the winter bury themselves in the ground during which time like he souls hung up to air In Hades hey are purged of all gross humors before they return to enjoy themselves In the Elysian fields in spring Cooking the snails is not an easy matter They are drawn from the shell which is then carefully scrubbed and washed Their heads are cut off and they are well soaked In salt and water then returned to the shell which is stopped with parsely butter and laid to simmer in a hot dish over the fire An enthusiast sent the writer some dozens taken at the right season from his vineyard In Burgundy with a few bottles of red and white wine Gorton made from the juice of the grapes from the vines on which they had fed in order as he said that the snails when eaten might find themselves them-selves en pays de connaissance The combination was excellent and though there may be two opinions about the flavor of the escargot there is no doubt that in both taste and substance it is an edible unlike any other known The Wiltshire people especialy the population of Swindon eat the large garden snails as a common dainty |