A good many are now imported from Europe.
_How to clean and prepare._--Throw them in boiling water, in which you
have put some wood-ashes; leave them in till they have thrown their
cover wide open, which will take about fifteen minutes; then take them
off, pull them out of the shell by means of a fork, place them in
lukewarm water, and leave two hours; next, rub them in your hands, and
then soak in cold water; rub them again in your hands in cold water, two
or three times, changing the water each time, so as to take away most of
their sliminess. Wash the shells in lukewarm water with a
scrubbing-brush, and drain them when clean.
_Broiled._--Knead together and make a paste of a sufficient quantity of
butter, parsley chopped fine, salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg; say about
two ounces of butter, a tablespoonful of parsley, a saltspoonful of
salt, a pinch of pepper, and the same of nutmeg (for two dozen). Put a
piece of the above paste, the size of a kidney bean, in each shell, then
the snails, and at the top again the same quantity of paste; lay them
one by one close together, in a crockery or cast-iron kettle, the mouth
of the snails up, and not one upon another; cover the kettle well; set
it on a moderate fire, or in a moderately heated oven, and leave thus
till cooked, which is easily seen by the parsley beginning to turn
black, or as if fried. Lay them on a dish in the same order, and if
there is any gravy in the kettle, put a part of it in each shell, and
serve hot.
In eating them, be careful after having taken off the snail and eaten
it, to turn down the shell, for there is some juice in the bottom of it
which is delicious; the best way is to drink it as if from the bottom of
a glass.
They can be broiled on a gridiron, but they are not as good as in a
kettle; some of the juice is lost, and also the flavor.
_Stewed._--Put in a stewpan four ounces of butter for fifty snails, and
set it on a good fire; when melted, sprinkle in it a teaspoonful of
flour, stirring a while; then add a teaspoonful of parsley chopped fine,
two sprigs of thyme, a bay-leaf, a pint of white wine, and then the
snails, which you have previously put back into their shells; cover the
whole with warm broth, boil gently till the sauce is reduced and the
snails are cooked, and serve them mouth upward, and filled with the
sauce.