Snails.

Manawatu Herald, 10 January 1895, Page 3

Snails.

♦ Escargots, the snails which are considered such dainties by a good many Frenchmen, and which in this season are so much eaten, owe their introduction as an article of diet, to the genius of Talleyrand, who, when he entertained the Emperor of Bussia, Alexander I, in 1814, puzzled himself long what gastriomonic novelty he could set before his Imperial guest. The result of his cogitations was the discovery of the eselrgot. . . . v The dish had the greatest success, everyone who tasted it, declaring it to be exquisite. Each guest, when the dish was served, received a printed sliu-of glazed paper, headed " Escargcvfsr a la Bourguighonne," followed by an interminable list of tbe various ingredients of which the stuffing was composed. All Paris of that epoch spoke of the new dish, and, since then, the vogue of the escargofc has gone on increasing. Nowadays the escargofc is systematically reared on a large: scale in several departments, ih order that the f_efch of the mollusc may have a good flavour, liromatic pianist-such as tyme, parsley, and sage— are oultivated iti -the fields where it is raised,