Snails

When I was watching the video below (Liziqi is a food blogger from China who lives with her grandmother, apparently) I was reminded of my time living in Mallorca, watching people out in the fields in the early mornings collecting snails. They would take them home and put them in bird cages hanging outside, with lettuce to eat for a week to clean them through.  Then on a Sunday morning, usually grandmother would be out in the outdoor kitchen boiling up couldrons of snails for the family to eat before lunch with alioli.  They also put them in a dish called arroz brut, or dirty rice, with a slug of pernod which made it delicious.  Does anyone here collect and eat snails?
I have just remembered that the collectors would particularly look for the snails on old rusty fencing where they would be all along the top strands of wire.  I wonder why.

I find these videos so relaxing to watch - I wish I was her Granny!

My guess would be ease of location and picking.

I haven't foraged slug yet, but I find the concept intriguing. I was introduced to escargots at a young age, both in the shell drowned in garlic butter, and in tiny brioche pastries, again with lots of garlic butter. If I ended up in a situation where they were plentiful, I would certainly turn that plague of greenery-eating freeloaders into delicious garlicky goodness.

-CK

I love the term freeloaders! I rather meant why did the snails like the rusty metal.

i love Liziqi! They are beautifully made videos and I learn a lot about doing things with low-tech tools (there is a good summer video where she makes wheat beer, for example).
I have eaten snails in other places but here they carry parasites that can get you really, really ill (rat lungworm). These little poopers are why I have to soak my produce in bleach solution before eating. Harrumph.

We tried snails, they are ok but taste a bit earthy kind of like beetroot. so we put them into the survival food catagary. Our last house had the big roman snail the proper escargot as it were, this one is much dryer and only has the tiny banded snails.