Cochleas lacte pastas
(Milk-fed Snails)

Origin: Roman      Period: Traditional

Original Recipe

Cochleas lacte pastas (from Apicius' De Re Coquinaria)

Cochleas lacte pastas: accipies cochleas, spongizabis, membranam tolles, ut possint prodire. adicies in vas lac et salem uno die, ceteris diebus [in] lac per se, et omni hora mundabis stercus. cum pastae fuerint, ut non possint se retrahere . . . et ex oleo friges. mittes oenogarum. similiter et pultae pasci possunt.

Translation

Take snails and sponge them; pull them out of the shells by the membrane and place them for a day in a vessel with milk and salt.1 Renew the milk daily. Hourly, clean the snails of all refuse, and when they are so fat that they can no longer retire to their shells fry them in oil and serve them with wine sauce. In a similar way they may be fed on a milk porridge.

Before you turn your nose up at this dish, give it a try, you'll be surprised at the results. In the UK you have an added bonus in that you can use garden snails for this recipe. It's a good way of getting rid of them. Just remember that the Romans introduced the garden snail into Britain as a delicacy so it's only fitting that you should get rid of them using this recipe!

Ingredients:

20 snails
1.1l milk
garum (or Nam Pla)
oil for frying
2 cloves garlic
4 tbsp red wine

Method:

If you're going to use garden snails, collect the largest ones. You can do this over several nights by placing them into a suitable box containing lettuce. Make sure you only collect snails from places where pesticides are not used. Starve the snails for two days to make sure there are no pesticide residues.

Remove the membranes from around the snails (this will allow them to come out of their shells easier later). Put the snails into a pot and cover with fresh milk. The snails should be left in the milk for two days, but every hour you should remove the snails' waste products from the milk (your slaves can do this). Change the milk every 12 hours.

After two to three days the snails should have absorbed the milk and they will not be able to get back into their shells. Remove the now fattened snails from their shells. Smash the garlic with the flat of a knife, remove the skins and chop finely. Heat some oil in a pan and add the garlic. When this begins to fry add the snails and fry for about five minutes. Add the red wine and cook until reduced by half. Tip out onto a dish and flavour with garum. Serve immediately.

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