Why are grape snails useful and how to cook them

Grape snails are highly regarded as a delicacy in France and Italy. In addition to their unique taste, they are in demand due to the large amount of useful properties, vitamins and microelements they contain. The benefits and harms of a grape snail depend on the way it is prepared, as well as some other factors.

What grape snails look like and where are they found

Grape snails are able to adapt to almost any conditions and are generally unpretentious. Storage tanks are called molluscs.

Of the conditions created for them, three options are noted:

• in closed rooms;
• in an aviary on farm plots;
• in greenhouses.

In nature, slugs prefer moist places in forests with an abundance of piled wood. They can often be found in hop thickets. Without trying too hard, 20 grape snails are easy to find after drizzling rain under the stumps in the forest belts.

Another place where they usually appear is heaps of brushwood, covered with the leaves of a climbing plant (for example, a wild vineyard). They can also be found on tree trunks.

The humidity indicator in the expected location of the grape snails should be kept in the range of 85 - 90%, and the temperature - 20 - 25 ° C. Thus, shellfish can be purchased on the farm or harvested by yourself.

Breeders usually sell them by weight. In one kilogram, you can count about 20 individuals with a shell diameter of 5 cm and a weight of about 50 g. This species is considered the largest in Europe.

The chemical composition of grape snails

The beneficial properties of slugs are used in cosmetology and industry. Here the benefits of grape snails for men are revealed. From the raw materials of this mollusk, preparations are made to restore potency.

It is believed that eating their healthy meat before sex also lengthens the sexual intercourse, since they contain an aphrodisiac in their chemical composition. In addition, extracts are obtained from grape molluscs, from which bronchorelaxants and medicines are made to correct metabolism in connection with the content of minerals and biologically active substances.

Grape snail mucus also has benefits and harms to human health. Its regenerating properties have been known since ancient times, since the mollusk is able to completely regenerate its shell and body thanks to the secretion secreted by its glands.

Slime composition:

• allantoin;
• elastin;
• collagen;
• vitamins;
• glycolic acid;
• natural antibiotics.

But this sticky translucent mass also has the property of a disease carrier. Due to its ability to stimulate blood circulation in order to avoid harm, it should not be used as masks or creams for people with pronounced vascular network on the skin, as well as with exacerbated dermatitis.

The shellfish meat used for food contains the following substances necessary for a person:

• magnesium;
• nickel;
• sodium;
• potassium;
• iron;
• zinc;
• phosphorus;
• vitamins B6 and B

Nutritional value and calorie content of grape snails

Snails are suitable for religious people during fasting, as they are excellent substitutes for meat products. They contain an easily digestible protein with a caloric value of 90 kcal per 100 g of product. Of them:

• 30% fat;
• 5% - carbohydrates;
• 10% proteins.

Useful properties of grape snails

Especially the grape snail benefits the body of pregnant women and the elderly, as it contains iron and calcium. After childbirth, clam mucus can be used to relieve stretch marks.

Benefits and harm will be brought by snails to food for people with low immunity or problems with the nervous system, but suffering from joint diseases or allergy to protein.

The effect of snails' diet on their taste

Speaking about the benefits and harms of grape snails for humans, it is worth noting that in some countries they are considered pests, as they cause damage to crops.

Raised in captivity, these molluscs can eat plaster from houses to extract calcium. This does not affect the taste, and overeating with snail protein leads to obesity. The contents of the intestines can also adversely affect the taste if cooked without first cleaning.

Preparation and cleaning of grape snails

Before the slaughter of beneficial pests, they starve for 3 to 5 days in order to cleanse the meat for its suitability for human consumption. Next, the killed molluscs are separated from the shells. Sharpened wooden sticks or toothpicks can be used.

Grape snail recipes

Slug dishes require a specific approach to make them delicious. There are classic grape snail recipes that are hard to go wrong with.

Burgundy Grape Snails

After preparing and cleaning the clams, they must be boiled for 1 hour with spices. At the same time, add to the water:

• carrot;
• onion;
• peppercorns;
• 1 tablespoon of salt in 1 liter of water.

Meanwhile, the empty sinks are rinsed, filled with water with the addition of 1 tablespoon of baking soda and boiled for 30 minutes. Next, the shells need to be sorted out. If there are no dark spots in the cones, then they are fairly clean to use. Then the oven is preheated to 150 ° C and a baking sheet with selected shells is placed there to dry.

For stuffing, you need green butter. It is prepared from the following ingredients:

• parsley;
• 5 - 6 cloves of garlic;
• 200 g butter;
• salt and pepper.

Greens with garlic are thoroughly crushed in a blender and grind with the rest of the ingredients.

The final stage of preparing the Burgundy delicacy filling:

1. A little oil is put into the shell.
2. Clam meat is inserted into the oil.
3. The meat is covered with oil again.

Grape snails in tomato sauce

For the next recipe you will need:

• 10 clams;
• 1 large tomato
• 50 ml dry red wine;
• 1 tablespoon grape syrup
• 50 ml olive oil;
• onions and garlic to taste;
• spices to taste.

Cooking steps:

1. First of all, tomato, onion and garlic are grated or chopped in a blender.
2. Next, you need to fry the meat in the resulting gruel with the addition of wine.
3. After 10 minutes, the syrup is added.
4. It remains to cover the future dish with a lid and wait 40-50 minutes.

Baked snails

For the recipe you must have:

• pre-cooked grape snails;
• butter (about 200 g);
• white crackers;
• garlic;
• parsley and pepper;
• pastis.

1. Oil at room temperature should be rubbed with garlic and a little salt, and add pepper.
2. After adding pastis, the resulting mixture is tasted and more salt is added if necessary.Further, the mollusks are pushed deep into their bodies in 2 - 3 pieces.
3. Sprinkle a baking sheet with coarse sea salt to keep them upright, and finally fill the shells with garlic oil.
4. Sprinkle the top layer of butter with breadcrumbs so that a crust forms during baking.
5. In an oven preheated to 200 ° C, a healthy dish is cooked for 8 minutes.

Harm of the grape snail and contraindications

In addition to the above benefits, snail meat will be harmful for personal intolerance and gout. However, for the most part, these molluscs harm agriculture than the human body. To date, no deaths from their use have been observed.

Conclusion

The benefits and harms of the grape snail have been studied for a long time. Once only the poor ate shellfish for lack of other meat and quickly gorged on them, but now they are considered a delicacy. Even snail mucus is used in cosmetology. People are ready to pay tens of thousands of rubles for the caviar of these garden pests. The conclusion is unequivocal: there is more benefit from a grape snail than harm.