Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 81, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 April 1920 — SNAILS RETURNING TO PARIS [ARTICLE]

SNAILS RETURNING TO PARIS

That Is, They Are Again to Be Berved in Bmart Restauranta of the Gay City. For the first time ft»r years the Paris restaurants are now sending orders to the snail farms In the provinces. as well as to Italy and Switzerland. The snails are collected during. Jane and July by women and children, and must be as fenderly handled as eggs, for on no account must the shell be cracked. At the farm they are placed one by one on grass in fine wire enclosures, and nre fed on lettuce and cabbage. A largo cabbage in an enclosure with two hundred snails will disappear In aa hour. A large business is done in “runners” (as the snails are called when they run about) all the year round to meet the tastes of less fastidious diners, and the largest gray-shelled snail—the best of the edible ones—is in danger of being exterminated by being collected during the breeding season. "Rflhners” must not be packed with fresh grass or they will overeat themselves, have indigestion and so spoil their flavor. There are people who collect the larger gray shells to sell to the smaller restaurants that an inferior order of snail, or even the humble mussel, may be substituted. The snail which is to tempt the palate of the epicure must not be eaten before the last week in September. The snails are usually packed In flat boxes or baskets containing from 1,000 to 1,500 each. Their storage is riot an easy matter, for they must be kept al a carefully regulated temperature, for a degree too much heat will deceive them into the belief that spring has arrived, and they will wake and crawl about.