I have never been a fan of snails on a plate. I grew up with other eatable creatures… The first time I ate snails was in France, “so that I don’t die stupid” not having this experience, then again in France, with friends, so that they don’t die stupid either, and that’s how I got to taste, from time to time, the snails of the French, eating like at home half a baguette with the delicious green sauce! (My mouth is watering right now…)
“You must go eat snails!” – we received a piece of advice when we jumped the fence to the neighboring Bulgarians.
It’s a place specializing in snails, so we said we shouldn’t miss it.
Nothing but snails on the menu, except for the dessert.
Only a few dishes, but all with snails. Taking advantage of the fact that there are 5 of us at the table, we order everything, so that we get to taste them all.
Once the order made, I start to look around at the place.
We are, in fact, in a snail farm. The restaurant terrace is surrounded by a landscaped area to offer the snails a happy and healthy life. That is until they are eaten…
I get up and start walking next to a kind of a fence, where the hair stands on ends: the area has electricity, which probably prevents the snails from leaving the perimeter. You can hear that electric shock sound all the time, so I stay away, I really don’t want to get a perm now. I feel sorry for the poor snails who live, practically, in a maximum security prison.
I look for them through the overgrown grass, among their “houses”, but I hardly see any.
Instead, I discover the “kindergarten”, where the snails have a real playground!
On the walls of the restaurant terrace you have all kinds of information. I look at what’s written and realize that I don’t know anything about snails.
Since ancient times, snail meat has been eaten, because it has beneficial properties.
The high content of zinc, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium and protein have turned this delicacy into one of the most valuable and sought-after foods in the world. I really did not know this!
Due to the rich calcium content, snails are recommended for pregnant women and for children.
And, bleah, snail eggs compete with another delicacy – sturgeon caviar. They are rich in protein and calories, but not in fat.
Snails are known as a Roman aphrodisiac. Well, I’m only now finding out what our ancestors discovered long ago… Really?! J
The food is brought, so I run to the bathroom to wash my hands.
Here, full of snail objects. Boxes, trinkets, toys. How cute! I’m already starting to get attached…
In the yard, all kinds of cute statues, representing happy and well-developed snails, smile at you. I realize that I like it in the Land of Snails, but I’m starting to feel guilty: I feel like an alien who not only invaded their world, but who is also eating them!
Several large pots are filled with snail shells. I look to the right – snails playing around (well, at their own pace). I look to the left, pots with snail shells. It gives me chills… That short is the distance from Heaven to Hell?…
On the wall in front of me there is a poster that tells the story of the snail coming out of hibernation, its growth, its reproduction and look how it lays eggs, wow, how cute. You almost end up wanting to meet its “children”.
A young boy who acts as a waiter fills our table with everything we asked for. Snail with I don’t know what, then snail with something else, we also have some snail with cheese sauce and something else, plus snail in the oven with something, I don’t know what.
Well, do I still feel like eating? Seriously now. The big eyes of the snail statue in the yard follow me, I hear the electrocution on the fence near the table and it seems to me that something is moving in the plate…
We eat – some more carefree, others like in a famous Romanian poem: “I eat and cry, I eat…”.
We pay – leaving the money in a wooden box decorated with… of course… a snail shell and we leave.
The bottom line? It’s not good to eat any living thing in its natural environment… Better locked in the house, better in a restaurant. I can imagine how could the beef steak go down in a restaurant-terrace where some nice cows would walk among the tables, stopping for you to caress their rumps.
That being said, I’m going to get… a pork steak J. From the supermarket, not from the farm!
