… turn them into escargots.
Lalita Clozel has a great story at the NY Times today about snails that nobody wanted.
She writes, “On this storm-weathered tip of Mont Saint-Michel Bay, the sweeping tides have washed away the line between land and sea. Fishermen drive their wheeled boats straight into the bay to gather their harvest: an assortment of shellfish prized all over France.
“But now they are finding their nets weighed down by an invasive species: the crépidule, or Atlantic slipper shell, a curious type of sea snail that has spread from the East Coast of the United States.
“Oyster and mussel producers here have watched helplessly as the colony has taken over their beautiful bay, flush with phytoplankton, the micro-organisms that make it a haven for all manner of shellfish and tint the water turquoise.
“Enter Pierrick Clément, a local entrepreneur who looked at the encroaching Atlantic slipper shell and asked an unthinkable question in a town that has built its livelihood on bountiful seafood: Would people eat the insidious creature?
“ ‘As a businessman, I see an opportunity here,’ he said. …
“The community of Cancale now finds itself torn between disgust and relief at Mr. Clément’s project to fish and sell the sea snails for consumption.
“After years of administrative haggling, he has coaxed local municipalities and producers to back his project and begin a campaign to rehabilitate the snail’s image. …
“His pilot factory, among the bustling oyster plants in nearby Le Vivier-sur-mer, ships to a few stores and restaurants in France, Spain and Germany.
“Eventually he hopes to process as much as 100,000 tons of slipper shells per year — enough to offset their growth in the bays.” More here.
This entrepreneur’s adaptability fits with what my father used to say about the French secret of beauty. It was along the lines of Feature what you’ve got.
“If you have a big nose,” he said, “hang a beer can on it.”
Photo: Catalina Martin-Chico for The New York Times
Yes, this is exactly how we human beings are going to have to continue to respond as our fossil-fuel-powered frenzy to travel and to see other places and to purchase cheap clothing and poorly-crafted stuff made in countries all around the planet means that plants and animals and viruses and bacteria end up being introduced into new ecosystems… traveling across oceans in the ballast water of boats, in the air filtration systems of planes, etc. If only all invasive species could be eaten like this mollusk…
Hmmm. But maybe we could try to eat them all. Zebra mussels in the Great Lakes, purple loose strife in Great Meadows. I’m sure if put our minds to it (and add a lot of salt), we can figure this out.
I have never thought about what purple loose strife might taste like. I imagine those wildly jumping fish which are moving ever closer to the Great Lakes would be edible if steamed with scallions and ginger…
Probably even an old tire would be edible steamed with scallions and ginger.
Thank you for making me laugh out loud.
🙂