Les escargots comestibles

Comestible means "edible" — good to eat. Here are the two snails that are considered edible in France. The one above is the petit-gris, the little gray snail. They are plentiful here where we live. We don't eat the wild ones, but they are available in cans or frozen at the supermarkets. We do eat those, once or twice a year.

 

The gastropod below is the most highly esteemed variety. It's called l'escargot de Bourgogne or le gros blanc. It's two or three times as big as the petit-gris. Most would say that it's two or threew times as delicious too.

I've only ever seen one gros-blanc snail here in the Saint-Aignan area. It was out in the vineyard. I didn't disturb it because it's illegal in France to do so during the Burgundy snail's reproductive season, and I'm not sure when that is. If memory serves, I saw this snail two or three times over a three-year period, always in springtime. I've never seen it again.