L’ESCARGOTS
From page 33
fitted with a sprinkler system
which ensures a daily
watering, after which dry feed
is put out on wooden feed
trays which are off the ground
above the suspended drops of
shade cloth.
In this growing method the
snails spend nine months
from hatchling to harvest.
One of the features of snail
production is that there is no
waste generated, (apart from
wash-down water in an
indoor growing system), as
every part of the harvested
snail is usable.
Like all living creatures snails
are prone to diseases and
ailments of which, though
hard to believe, stress is one,
says Micallef. And, as in all
intensive growing operations
immediate removal of
mortalities and obviously
diseased animals is imperative
if one is to prevent an
outbreak. But for the most
part, optimal growing
conditions, stringent applica-
Cleaned snail shells await filling with cooked snail meat and sauce,
tion of hygiene controls and a
watchful eye throughout the
growing period will keep
losses to a minimum.
Once they have grown to size
snails must be purged so that
their alimentary canals are
free of grit and partiallydigested food. This is
achieved over a ten day postharvest period, following
which they are killed,
removed from their shells,
deslimed and either blanched
or cooked through.
The shells themselves are
cleaned and, if suitable,
retained to be refilled with a
cooked snail and sauce, to be
served up, heated, as a readymade hors d'ouvre.
Restaurants will also order
blanched or cooked snails,
with shells separate, to do
their own dishes.
Snail meat that is unsuitable
34
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for use whole is minced and
made into pate.
Snail slime finds a ready
market among cosmetic
manufacturers, particularly as
a skin tightening preparation.
Cracked or damaged shells
are ground up as a chickenfeed additive.
Snails are also unique in that
their ability to hibernate for
long periods means that one
can withhold stock to await
processing or sale without
having to feed them (unlike a
broiler chicken, for example,
which starts to cost its grower
big-time if it is not sold and
slaughtered once it reaches its
target weight).
To hibernate snails is easy:
they are simply collected,
placed in a porous (string)
o
bag, and refrigerated at 5 C
until required.
At the other end of the
growth cycle, manipulation is
also possible to a degree.
Snails hatch from soft, white
Continued on page 36