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Put the snails and half of the herb butter in a saucepan with a little
broth and leave for a few minutes. Toss the spinach in a pan with a
little butter, salt and pepper; form a bed of spinach on the plate
and arrange the snails on top.
Filter the butter used in cooking, bind it with the remaining herb
butter and pour over the snails.
Recommended wine: Sauvignon; Vie de Romans
Recipe proposed by Massimo and Roberto Ferrari
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Taken from "Di terra e di acqua" ed. Franco Angeli.
Frogs and
snails
Our province, so wet-logged and covered by waters, seems to be the
natural cause of these singular creatures.
In Italy, frogs and snails as food are mostly part of the culinary
traditions of the North, a territory rich in rivers, ditches, ponds,
marshes and rice fields, all due to the geographical position.
Although now considered rare and precious foods, in the Mantua territory
they have, for centuries, been a common part of popular culinary culture,
substituting the more costly beef or hen which were reserved for special
occasions. Frogs and snails were easily found in the countryside and
therefore massively hunted, so much so that, with the formation of an
ecological conscience, in Lombardy it was necessary to pass a law
forbidding the capture of frogs outside the limits of certain periods of
the year, to protect their reproduction.
Therefore
we must ask why, given their abundance in rural areas, frogs and snails
should be considered nowadays "food fit for a King": probably because they
require a long time to prepare and almost loving atttention; they become a
luxury in the chaos of modern life which allows very little time to
dedicate to food and the kitchen, wiping out our historical knowledge of
food.
At one
time, in fact, these delicacies were available as food only during limited
periods: spring and summer for frogs, spring and autumn for snails. Frogs
hibernate with the first frosts, while snails "shut the door". Nowadays,
however, technology and transport have made it possible for the market to
offer both fresh and frozen farmed or imported products, so that frogs or
snails can reach the table practically all year round, although summer
remains the favorite season for frogs with their sweet and delicate meat,
and winter for snails which are more substantial and have a stronger
flavour.
Here we
ought to say a few words on how to prepare snails in our own kitchen,
since the procedure has perhaps been lost from the collective memory. The
live snails, after purging for at least 30 days in flour, are left to soak
for about an hour in warm water, with a handful of cooking salt and half a
glass of vinegar, moving them often so that they lose all their slime.
Then they must be washed one by one under running water. Next, they are
transferred to a saucepan, covered with cold water and aromas as when
preparing broth, then brought to the boil, removing the scum at intervals,
and finally, simmered for 30 minutes. Then they must be drained and
extracted one by one from their shells, removing the black end (entrails)
and the radula (mouth), washed again and simmered once more in salt water
and aromas for about forty-five minutes. They will now be ready for their
final preparation.
For us
it is important to underline that the deep-rooted habit of Italian and
French people to eat whole frogs is due mostly to the availability of
these amphibians of the exculenta family, so small that they need to be
used whole; important and decisive has also been the long tradition, still
observed, of not wasting anything in the kitchen.
However, when frogs were liberated from their status of food for survival,
becoming a pleasure for the palate, or perhaps, because of this
non-necessity, cultural disgust for the whole creature became manifest and
preparations became more varied and particular. Now, the kitchen uses only
the legs or the de-boned amphibian, making the dish more up-to-date while
still seeking a gastronomic and cultural link with the territory.
Frogs
have always been part of popular culinary usage and there are, in fact,
many traditional recipes presenting this amphibian as the main ingredient:
risotto, stews, fries, omelettes, that is, elementary daily dishes varying
in taste and name according to the element that defines the taste.
Taken from "Di terra e di acqua" ed. Franco Angeli.
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