Feel sluggish? Well here's one of 37,000 snails to fork out on

WHILE our Gallic cousins have long viewed them as a delicacy, Scots have never really accepted the snail as anything other than a slimy garden pest.

But one Edinburgh restaurant is hoping to change all that – after ordering more than 37,000 of them to celebrate National Escargot Day.

Cafe Rouge is hoping to avoid sluggish sales after taking delivery of enough to feed more than 6000 diners.

Although ordered from French farms, the snails come in a more Brit-friendly form – without their shells.

Cafe Rouge manager Cem Karatas admitted there was normally no demand from diners in Edinburgh for snails.

But he is hoping the novelty of National Escargot Day on Saturday will help persuade people to give them a go.

"It's never really been something people here eat, and while we've had the odd person asking about snails, there has never been a demand for them," he said.

"It is quite difficult to get snails here, which is probably because they are not a popular dish, and so we have had ours delivered from France.

"We aren't selling them in the shells, as we wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to try them. I hope people will give it a taste and maybe discover that they like them."

While it is not that unusual for snails to be served up in some of Edinburgh's most exclusive eateries, the idea behind the Frederick Street restaurant's menu was to give as many people as possible a chance to try them out.

The dishes being served include the traditional favourite of snails cooked in rich garlic butter, as well as more adventurous dishes such as snails smothered in melted goat's cheese or snails served with a combination of spinach and mushroom.

In France, the rearing and cooking of snails is seen as a kind of culinary art form.

There are 116 varieties of edible snails, with the most exclusive being the Helix Pomatia, nicknamed the "land lobster" on account of its delicate flavour and texture.

A snail can eat the equivalent of half its body weight in 24 hours, but, before being cooked, they are subjected to a two-week fast to clear the digestive system.

Some snails have been known to live up to 15 years, though in France the life expectancy is around four years.


'They're nice, they taste better than snake'
WE went to find out what city diners would make of the snails.

Joyce Kane, 57, a nursery administrator from Bo'ness, and her son Russell Miller, 27, both agreed to try the dish, and were surprised to find that they had been eating snails.

"It's quite nice, very nice flavours, and I must admit I had no idea it was snails," said Mrs Kane. "I've never tried them before, it's not something you think about in Scotland, but I'd certainly try them again."

Mr Miller was less keen.

He said: "It is quite tasty, but the texture is quite strange, and they are a bit chewy, like calamari. I don't think I would try them again though."

Student Louise Ret, 19, of Greenbank, was a convert after her first taste of snails.

"It's nice," she said. "I've never eaten snails before, but really just because I've not had the chance, I would definitely try them again. I think the strangest thing I've eaten before now was snake, but this is better."

Fellow student Alison Scott, 18, of Dalkeith, was also impressed, and admitted this was not her first time.

"I have eaten snails before and I really liked them, so I would have no problem eating them again," she said.

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