Jackfruit Salad. Much ado is made about Heston Blumenthal's snail porridge, served at The Fat Duck, his three-star Michelin restaurant in Bray, Berkshire. But if you, like me, do not foresee yourself shelling out £130 for his tasting menu, fret not. Snails are a lot more accessible than you think. Snail Vermicelli. Long before the French started dipping escargots in garlic butter, the Vietnamese would gather snails from the fields and sauté them in garlic and salt. These sweet morsels star in Saigon Seafood's rendition of Bún Ốc (Escargot Tomato Soup with Rice Noodles). In a tangy tomato broth redolent with herbs (coriander and spring onions) and a good kick of ginger, the snails have a pleasantly firm bite....
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Some squeamish people may think eating snails is gross, but it seems beside the point to me—I would probably eat a slug if it were served with enough butter and garlic. The escargot from L'Escargot Montorgueil, a classic snail joint in the center of Paris, is a little pricey—six of their cheapest snails cost €9, or about $15, for exactly six mouthfuls of food (blame it on the snail shortage). But it was entirely worth the damage to my student budget for the experience of eating with one of those dainty gold forks and sopping up the delicious sauce with hot, crusty bread. Oh, I guess there were also snails. L'Escargot Montorgueil 38 Rue Montorgueil, 76001, 1st Arrondissement, Paris,...
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Photograph from salimfadhley on Flickr Escargot may soon be hard to find on French menus. France is facing a snail shortage, as French food processors report they are no longer obtaining a sufficient amount of snails from eastern Europe. Part of the problem is that snail collecting is no longer as popular of a job in eastern European countries like Poland or Hungary—which supply two-thirds of all snails eaten in France—as better job opportunities crop up. The hot and dry summers of recent years have also been unfavorable for the French snail-farming industry. Consequently, the French market have been relying on more processed snails and foresee that bounty prices will be considerably higher for snail hunters....
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