Terrestrial snails are highly valued as food in the

Mediterranean countries. In the archaeological re-

cord, terrestrial snail shells have been found in Ibe-

rian period, stored in jars, which seems to demons-

trate that they were already used as food by the

Iberians (Oliver, 2000). The Romans considered

them as a delicacy and had special facilities for bre-

eding and maintenance (cochlearia). Ever since the

Roman Empire, specific tools have been developed

to extract the snail from its shell and facilitate con-

sumption (Mead, 1961). In the Middle Ages they

were authorized by the Church for consumption du-

ring Lent along with fish (Fontanillas, 2008) and for

this reason they are sold today in Spain at the fish

markets.

Figure 1.- Iberus alonensis, this endemic snail found in Mediterranean

shrublands is highly appreciated in Eastern Spain. For this reason, its po-

pulations are overexploited.

Land snails are a seasonal resource, linked with

spring and very traditionally valued in many regions

of Spain (Arrébola and Alvarez, 2001). Eating snails

is also linked with festive activities, as in Logroño

where it is traditional to eat snail soup on St. John’s

Day. In Cantabria they are a traditional Christmas

and New Year's Eve dish, while in Huesca and other

Aragonese towns snails are consumed with roasted

garlic and oil on the day of St. George (April 23).

In Álava they are traditional on San Prudencio’s

Feast Day (April 28), when snails are stuffed with

mushrooms. On the island of Mallorca snails are

eaten with chicken on the feast of the Holy Cross (3

May). Finally, almost 30 years ago in Lleida the snail

festival (Aplec del cargol) was declared to be of Na-

tional Tourist Interest (Fontanillas, 2008).In Spain,

snails are consumed traditionally in all regions with

the exception of Galicia and other parts of the Can-

tabrian coast such as Asturias (San Miguel, 2004),

with nine different species being used (Navarro,

1991).

As occurs with mushrooms, snails are traditionally

not considered a food in the Spanish regions inhabi-

ted in ancient times by the Celts, e.g. NW Spain.

Gathering

Warm spring days, changing from rain to sun, are

the best weather to look for snails. In some parts of

Spain this weather is called “snail weather”. Some

popular sayings mark the best months to pick

snails, e.g. “April ones for me, May ones for my bro-

ther, June ones for no one”.

As for the antiquity of snail picking in Albacete (SE

Spain) it´s interesting to highlight a local Law from

the village of Peñas de San Pedro dating back to

1596, which in turn is a transcription of a former

law from the XIII century from the town of Alcaraz

(Pretel, 2005):

“Nobody, neighbor of this village or foreigner, can

pick pine or oak wood, firewood, charcoal, willow,

acorns, esparto grass….., snails… in the land su-

rrounding the village without permission from the

town hall.”

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Part of our cuisine

In Eastern Spain, there is a special esparto grass

basket, made just to pick snails. According to the

region, these baskets have different names, such as

caracolera, cachulera or cernacho.

Figure 2.- Caracolera, cachulera or cernacho is a basketry piece, made

with esparto grass and devoted traditionally to snail picking.

In the heat of summer, snails have to estivate (and

hibernate with the winter cold), closing the shell

with a insulating wall (epiphragm), thicker in spe-

cies found in Mediterranean shrublands. At this ti-

me, country folk say that snails are “enchanted” and

snails that have been collected can remain in this

state for several years.

Snails as a food

Snails contain a high percentage of water. They

are a good source of protein, while their content in

lipids and sugars is very poor. Their calorie content

is also low.

100 gr. of snails have:

Table 1.- Snails: nutritional facts

Figure 3.- Snail cuisine is very developed in Southern Spain. Picture, rice

with snails.

2

SENBA.2008

For Helix po-matia.

Arrébola

(2002)

Water (gr. for 100 gr.) 79 79-83

Kilocalories 77 60-80

Proteins (gr. por 100 gr.)

16 12-16

Carbohydrates (gr. for 100 gr.)

0 2

Fats (gr. for 100 gr.) 1 0.5-1

Cholesterol (gr. for 100 gr.)

0.1 -

3

Figure 4.- Land snails picked in Albacete province, SE Spain (Plate: Paco Cebrián). In Fajardo et al, 2009

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Species Common name in Spanish Ecology Way of consumption

Cepaea nemoralis serranilla Mountain meadows Sauces

Cernuella virgata caracol alfalfero, caracol chupalandero, caracol pe-queño, blanquillo

Grasslands, fields, road-sids, waste lands, etc.

Sauces

Cornu aspersum caracol de huerta, caracol sapenco, caracol negro, caracol zampudo

Homegardens, yards Sauces, roasted

Eobania vermiculata choneta, chichoneta Homegardens, crops, yards

Sauces

Helix pomatia caracol francés Introduced in river banks, deciduous forests and ho-megardens

Roasted

Iberus alonensis caracol serrano, serrana, caracol cristiano, baqueta

Mediterranean shrublands with rosemary, thyme, esparto grass, etc. (endemic in E Spain)

Rice, roasted

Iberus gualtieranus chapa Esparto grasslands and Mediterranean shurblands (endemic in SE Spain). In danger of extinction.

Rice, roasted

Otala punctata barbachos, boquinegros, cabrillas, caracol gordo de huerta, maesa

Homegardens and crops. Sauces and rice

Otala lactea Boquinegro, maesa Homegardens and crop fields.

Sauces and rice

.

Sphincterochila candi-dissima and other spe-cies of this genus

caracol judío, caracol moro, caracol blanco

Mediterranean shrublands with rosemary, thyme, esparto grass, etc. (endemic in E Spain)

Sauces, with tomato, rice

Theba pisana caracol alfalfero, chupalan-dero, caracol pequeño, ca-racol de boca roja

Grasslands, crop fields, roadsides, etc. Along the-Mediterranean coast of Spain.

Sauces

Species of land snails picked traditionally in Spain

Table 2.- Land snails traditionally picked in Spain.

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Recipe Snail species Other ingredients Preparation

Snail rice Iberus alonensis

Otala spp.

Sphincterochila spp.

Garlic cloves, olive oil, rice, saffron, salt, tomato, water.

After sautéing the ingredients, add the snails, leaving them to boil. Finally, add rice.

Roast snails Cornu aspersum

Helix pomatia

Iberus spp.

Olive oil, rosemary, salt. Snails are roasted in a pan with a drop of olive oil and then seasoned with rosemary and salt.

Snails with scrambled eggs

Iberus alonensis Chilli pepper, eggs, olive oil, salt.

Place the snails in a frying pan and wait until they are tricked. Fry with olive oil, tomato and salt.

Snails with tomato

All Olive oil, tomato, salt. Place the snails in a frying pan and wait until they are tricked. Fry with olive oil, tomato and salt.

Snails in sauce All except Iberus spp. Bay leaves, chili pepper, flour, garlic, mint, olive oil, onions, paprika, rosemary, thyme, tomato, salt, wine.

Sauce is prepared with all the ingredients, adding the snails last. Then the sauce is cooked until thick and tasty.

Snails with beans

All except Iberus spp. Beans, garlic, olive oil, pork ear, tomato, salt, water.

Beans, after soaking, are added to the sau-ce. Snails are added when the beans are half cooked.

Gazpacho man-chego with snails

Cornu aspersum

Helix pomatia

Iberus spp., Otala spp.. y Eoba-nia vermiculata

Garlic, gazpacho bread, olive oil, pepper, rosemary, saf-fron, salt, tomato, water.

First, we prepare a sauce with tomato and pepper. Add the trickd snails, rosemary and saffron, leaving it to boil some minu-tes. Add the gazpacho bread until it is co-oked.

Spanish snail recipes (synthesis)

Table 3.- Recipes. Source: Serrano (1998) and own data

Preparation and recipes

After gathering, snails must fast or be placed in flour in order to empty their digestive system, thus

avoiding the presence of bitter substances and flavours. After some days, the next step is “to trick”

the snails, putting them in a pot with some warm water. When all the bodies are outside their she-

lls, the water must be boiled suddenly in order to kill them before they enter their shells.

Nowadays, after being “tricked”, snails can be frozen.

Other traditional uses of snails

AIn addition to their use as a food, snails have other

traditional uses in Spain:

In folk medicine, snail slime is rubbed on warts to

make them disappear (Verde et al, 2008). Also, a

snail poultice has been used to reduce inflammation.

Snails picked in home gardens are fed to domestic

ducks.

Land snails are part of tradi-

tional knowledge about natu-

re for Mediterranean cultu-

res, being a appreciated

seasonal food.

Figure 5.- Chapa (Iberus gualtieranus) is an endemic snail in SE Spain,

with only four locations. This wonderful snail, unique in the world, is in danger of extinction, due, among other reasons, to overharvesting (Moreno

-Rueda, 2011).

References:

Arrébola, J. R. y Álvarez, R. 2001. La explotación de los caracoles terrestres en España: Aspectos ecológicos y culturales. Temas de Antropología Aragonesa 11: 139-172.

Arrébola, J. R. 2002. Caracoles terrestres de Andalucía. Manuales de Conservación de la Naturaleza nº 1. Consejería de Medio Am-biente. Junta de Andalucía.

Fajardo, J., Verde, A., Obón, C., Rivera, D. y Valdés, A. 2009. La recolección y consumo tradicional de caracoles terrestres en Al-bacete. Una perspectiva etnobiológica. Revista de estudios alba-cetenses Sabuco 7: 235-264

Fontanillas, J. C. 2008. Helicicultura moderna en España. Confe-rencia en la RACVE (Real Academia de Ciencias Veterinarias). En http://www.racve.es/actividades/helicicultura%20fontanillas.htm

Mead, A. R. 1961. The Giant African Snail: a problem in economic malacology. The University of Chicago Press.

Moreno-Rueda, G. 2011. Revisión del estatus de conservación del caracol amenazado Iberus gualtieranus gualtieranus. Zool. baeti-ca, 22: 69-85

Navarro, J. 1991. Los caracoles terrestres ibéricos de interés gas-tronómico. Quercus 61: 18-25.

Oliver, A. 2000. La cultura de la alimentación en el mundo ibéri-co. Ed. Diputació de Castelló.

Pretel, A. 2005. El castillo de Peñas de San Pedro. Del encastilla-miento al villazgo (siglos X-XVI). Instituto de Estudios Albaceten-ses “Don Juan Manuel”. Albacete.

San Miguel, E. 2004. Etnobotánica de Piloña (Asturias). Tesis Doctoral. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

SENBA (Sociedad Española de Nutrición Básica y Aplicada). 2008. Tablas de composición de alimentos. En http://www.senba.es/recursos/pdf/tablas_comp_alim/1.2.%20Macronutrientes%20y%20Minerales.pdf

Serrano, C. 1998. El Recetario de Madrigueras. Ed. Caridad Se-rrano. Albacete.

Verde, A., Rivera, D., Fajardo, J., Obón, C. y Cebrián, F. 2008. Guía de las plantas medicinales de Castilla-La Mancha. Ed. Alta-bán. Albacete.

Texts: Alonso Verde y José Fajardo

Pictures: José Fajardo y Paco Cebrián

Design: Miguel R. Brotons

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