It is that time of year-just after the first good post-summer rain, when the air is fresher, the trees are brighter and the faithful edible snails, or lumache, as we say in Italian, are coming out to play.
And this is serious business for people in my neck of my woods.
You see, the French don’t have the stronghold on preparing these delicacies … the Calabrians think they are just as good. (They just don’t market, or shall we say, share them as well as the French do.)
I saw this little sucker the other day and knew it was just a matter of time before my husband and father-in-law were digging in the dirt and growling at me for not trying them.
Unfortunately, somebody beat them to it.
Oh yes, I give it another week or so before my suocero fills his bag and starts serving ‘em up with a thick homemade marinara to my husband and his brother. And I’ll be there … just watching.
Have you ever tried snails? What did you think? Would you recommend them?
ECONOMY WATCH.(BUSINESS)
The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI) February 6, 2009 Byline: State Journal staff, wire services RETAIL SALES: January sales at established stores fell 1.6 percent, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs tally – not as bad as expected but still the fourth consecutive monthly decline. The index was helped by the better-than-expected results from Wal-Mart, which accounts for just over half the index. Excluding Wal-Mart, sales fell 4.8 percent. The tally is based on same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year.
JOBLESS CLAIMS: The Labor Department reported Thursday that the number of newly jobless workers seeking benefits rose last week to a seasonally adjusted 626,000, from the previous week’s upwardly revised figure of 591,000. The latest total is more than analysts’ expectations of 583,000. That’s also the highest since October 1982, when the economy was in a steep recession, though the work force has grown by about half since then. here great lakes higher education
MORTGAGE RATES: The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 5.25 percent this week from 5.1 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac. At this time last year, the 30-year rate averaged 5.67 percent. The average hit a record low of 4.96 percent three weeks ago.
COMMODITIES REVIEW: Gold for April delivery rose $12 Thursday to settle at $914.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. March silver jumped 28 cents to $12.75 an ounce. March copper futures fell 3.1 cents to $1.50 a pound. March wheat futures gained 19.5 cents to $5.6175 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Corn for March delivery rose 13 cents to $3.7125 a bushel. March soybeans added 30.5 cents to $9.80 a bushel.
BRIEFLY Great Lakes Higher Education Corp., a Madison-based student loan company, is merging with a South Dakota-based student loan guarantor. Under the transaction, Great Lakes will acquire Education Assistance Corp.’s South Dakota facilities. Great Lakes intends to integrate EAC’s employees and operations into Great Lakes. Both companies administer student loan programs on behalf of the government.
Focusing on the education and training market has helped Sonic Foundry cut its losses by more than half, compared to a year ago, the Madison tech company said Thursday.
Sonic Foundry , whose Mediasite products are used for Web broadcasts and archiving, reported a $1.2 million net loss for the October-December 2008 quarter, or 3 cents a share, on $4 million in revenue. That’s an improvement from the $3.5 million net loss, or 10 cents a share, on $2.5 million in revenue for the same quarter a year earlier. Sonic Foundry also said it will have until September to get its stock above the minimum $1 a share requirement to trade on the Nasdaq market. The stock closed Thursday at 70 cents. site great lakes higher education
With three acquisitions in the past 14 months, Regal Beloit on Thursday reported profits of $128.6 million for 2008, or $3.87 a diluted share, on a record $2.2 billion in sales. That compares with $118.3 million in profits, or $3.49 cents a diluted share, on $1.8 billion in sales for 2007. The Beloit-based company makes mechanical and electrical motion-control and power-generation equipment.
Domtar Corp. says it will permanently close its fine paper manufacturing sector at its Plymouth, N.C., mill, cutting 185 jobs. Domtar said the Plymouth mill will continue to operate two pulp lines, one pulp dryer and one paper machine. The Montreal company reported a net loss of $550 million (676 million Canadian dollars) for the fourth quarter. In June, Domtar closed its paper mill in Port Edwards, cutting about 500 jobs.
Ick!!!!! They are beyond inedible.
He he …
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I have very fond memories of hunting for snails as a little girl. My nonna would send me and my cousin out to collect them after the rain. Armed with plastic bags and long sticks (for poking around in wood piles and bushes)we would set out all excited to see who would collect the most snails. I have only eaten them a handful of times – they are not really my thing – but if cleaned well and prepared a certain way they could be delicious!
How fun! I have a similiar memory of looking for crawfish in ditches with my cousins … I don’t eat those, either.
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I used to make them a lot, but not eat them, because I knew it was the garlic butter DH and child liked. (We were French and never thought of pasta with lumache which may be why we all still eat pasta.)
Sounds like NYC/Caribbean Ragazza would like them the way you make them.
.-= Judith in Umbria´s last blog ..Puglia again =-.
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I did eat them once – after buying them and reading that they should be kept alive for a few days and fed some water and bread to “purify” them. By the time we cooked them, it was horrifying to see these little cuties we had grown used to for a few days, crawling up the sides of the pan trying to escape the hot water. never again.
Traumatizing!
.-= Ciaochowlinda´s last blog ..Green Tomato Chocolate Cake =-.
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I’ve always wondered exactly where these little critters come from…….since I’m not usually there long enough to watch the entire process…but I’ve found them in the trees and plants, and attached to the exterior walls. How do they get there? It never occurred to me to *actually* eat them!!!!
So are you adding it the list of things to try next time you are here?
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Love them with garlic and butter. Yum.
I’ll take your word for it.
.-= nyc/caribbean ragazza´s last blog .."By American standards you’re fine, but by European standards you need to lose some weight." =-.
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Yick. No way. A couple of years ago, my parents and I were in a restaurant in rural Burgundy, and at the table next to us, the two *children* were scarfing up the snails, while the mom and dad didn’t partake at all!! I was astonished. Those kids loved ‘em!
Eek!
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Yum! Our sauce isn’t really thick, but it is loaded with oregano and delish!
And you don’t need to let them “purify” for a few days if you go early in the morning right after (or still during) a rainfall as they won’t have eaten and aren’t full of, ahem, crap
Nice mental image there, Michelle. Grazie.
.-= Michelle | Bleeding Espresso´s last blog ..Mudslides in Messina: Thanks for Not Getting in the Way Berlusconi! =-.
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