Snails, Portuguese Style
Submitted by erica5446
Traditional Portuguese snails simmered for two hours with oregano, bay leaf, garlic, and olive oil. Served warm in saucers with bread for dipping in the aromatic broth.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
120 minREADY
40 minIn Portugal, caracois are as much a social ritual as they are a dish.
Small snails simmer gently in an aromatic broth of oregano, bay leaf, garlic, and onion until they’re tender enough to pluck from their shells with a toothpick.
The cooking liquid is half the point here, fragrant with herbs and just enough olive oil to give it body. You serve the snails in saucers with that broth and tear off pieces of crusty bread to soak it all up.
This is the kind of food you eat slowly, with friends, and a cold beer.
Pro Tips
- Start with very low heat so the snails have time to extend from their shells before the water comes to a boil. Rushing this step makes them tough.
- Skim twice during cooking, once after the first hour and again before serving, for a cleaner broth.
- Leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to a week. Reheat gently in the broth.
- Half-inch snails are ideal. Larger ones can be chewy and take longer to cook through.
Ingredients
Directions
Try to obtain snails about ½ inch diameter.
Starve them for 3 or 4 days to get rid of any toxic herbs they may have ingested.
Wash snails in running water until all the slime is gone.
Place them in a large pan and cover with water (2 or 3 inch above snails).
Add all the other ingredients.
Cover the pan tightly.
Heat the water over a very slow fire so that snails have time to extend heads outside shells.
Let boil slowly for the first hour.
Skim and simmer for another hour, kkim again and serve warm in saucers, with a little of the cooking liquid.
Use toothpicks or pins to extract snails from shell.
Dip small pieces of bread in the cooking liquid.
Refrigerates well - use any leftovers within a week.
Comments