Title: Snails Sommeroise / Escargots a la Sommeroise
Categories: Appetizer French Snails
Yield: 8 Servings
| 100 | | Snails |
| | | Vinegar |
| 2 | | Thyme Sprigs |
| 1/2 | | Bay Leaf |
| 1 | | Basil Sprig |
| 1 | | Pared Orange Peel |
| 7 | oz | Pork Rind |
| 1/2 | c | Olive Oil |
| 1/2 | lb | Fatty Bacon |
| 6 | | Shelled Walnuts, Ground |
| 4 | | Canned Anchovy Fillets |
| 3 | | Garlic Cloves |
| | | Salt And Pepper |
| 3 | tb | Flour |
| 6 1/2 | lb | Whole Trimmed Spinach Leaves |
Preparation time 3 hours. Cooking time 2 1/2 hours. Starve the snails for
at least 8 days, then wash them in several changes of water until clean.
Rinse with vinegar, then drain. Place the snails in a saucepan of boiling
water with the thyme, bay leaf, basil, orange peel and pork rind. When the
snails are almost cooked, drain them and remove them from their shells. [I
guess boiling them makes it easier to remove them from their shells. -mkm]
Brown the snails in olive oil with the fatty bacon, very finely chopped [I
assume the author means chop the bacon first. --mkm], the ground walnuts,
anchovy fillets, crushed garlic and salt and pepper. Thicken the mixture
with the flour, then serve on a bed of spinach. [Make sure you wash all the
grit off the spinach first. --mkm] Rose, red or white wines: Tavel,
Chusclan, Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence. [From "Larousse Traditional French
Cooking."]