In "Historically yours", Olivier Poels looks back on the origins of the Burgundy snail recipe, which legend has traced back to a lunch between Talleyrand and the Russian tsar Alexander.
It is one of the traditional dishes that is the pride of Burgundy. The precise origins of the Burgundy snail recipe are not known, but according to legend, they could notably go back to an impromptu lunch between Talleyrand and the Tsar of Russia. In his column Les Papilles de la Nation, Olivier Poels, on the program Historically Vôtre, reviews the history of this appellation.
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The snail has been eaten since prehistoric times.
It was the time of what we called the gatherer-hunters, and who scooped up everything they found.
Man has always eaten snails, but for a long time, it did not really interest him.
A meal between Talleyrand and the Tsar
It is said that in 1814, Talleyrand (19th century French diplomat and statesman) had promised to have lunch with Tsar Alexander of Russia.
The two men had agreed to meet in a restaurant in Burgundy, run by chef Antonin Carême.
But they were very late, and when they arrived, Antonin Carême had sold everything, his pantry was empty.
Antonin Carême would then have gone to his garden and picked up some gastropods.
He then created this preparation with butter, garlic, and parsley.
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And the Tsar loved it.
He came back to Russia and said: “I ate Burgundy snails, it was fantastic”.
The recipe then became popular.
Snails often come from eastern countries
One clarification: the name "Burgundy snails" does not designate a variety of snails specific to the region.
Cooked snails come mainly from Eastern countries, because there are hardly any more in Burgundy.
And most importantly, these wild snails are protected, so the collection is extremely limited.
Today, what you are going to find are actually snails, either farmed or mainly from eastern countries.
How to cook them?
Ingredients
For four people, we can take:
- Four dozen snails
- 125 grams of semi-salted butter
- 3 cloves of garlic
- A bunch of parsley and pepper
The steps to follow:
1)
We will soften the butter, then mix it to try to make it as flexible as possible.
2)
In it, we will put the garlic cloves cut into very small pieces, the chopped parsley, and the pepper.
3)
We buy ready-made snails.
And then in the shells, we cover everything with the garlic and parsley butter.
4)
They are placed for 5-6 minutes in a very hot oven at 200 ° C.
5
)
When it starts to brown and sink a little into the bottom of the dish, we go out.
6)
You can serve the dish with a good glass of Chablis.