Snails versus slugs

[dwl]

I have often wondered, why apparently, we eat snails but not slugs - are they a completely different type of animal?

[IndieSinger]

"We"?

[bernardo]

The whole point of eating a snail is to have the fun of picking it out of its shell.

[Yinzer]

Snails just seem more dignified. Slugs are found all along the sides of streets after rain, and they have no shells so they just hang out all over the place begging children to pour salt on them. Snails know where to be at what times and are always polite. So yes, I'd say they are a completey different type of animal. I always like my food to be quite dignified, don't you?

[dwl]

Thanks Guys & Gals, very amusing ideas, but firstly IndieSinger, I was sort of using the Royal "We" (as in we humans). Secondly bernardo, I'm sure you do have fun picking it out of its shell, but with fun like this, you really do ned to get out more :-) :-). Thirdly, yes Yinzer, I do like my meals to be a fairly dignified & enjoyable experience = BUT Ladies & Gents, no has yet answered my actual question. It's not going to be life changing if I don't find out and I guess it's just one of these niggling things in the back of your (okay IndieSinger "my") mind from time to time, but someone must know please?

[dorset 1954]

I felt sure I'd seen the exact answer you require already on AB, but, alas, my searches under slugs, snails + escargots in "Animals & Nature", "Food & Drink" + "Home & Garden" have proved fruitless. Not much luck with "slugs edible" on Google either.

[cruthinboy]

When I lived at home in Glasgow, I never saw a snail but lots of slugs. Only since moving south of the border have I seen snails. Any reason why?

[New Forester]

Biologically slugs are merely snails which have carelessly lost their shells -- some species even have little shells still tacked on the back. I have read that they taste unpleasant, but have not yet tested this. They do have more slime, so may froth more when cooking. Am I imagining having seen Ray Mears eating them? However, it would be easy to try ... If trying them, I suggest treating them like the large brown garden snails, which are even tastier than bought Roman snails (in fact both were probably introduced to Britain as food). First check no-one has been using slug pellets nearby. Then clean the animals, by keeping them for a day or two in a container with some oats, flour or similar until their droppings are white (as in the traditional rhyme: Snail, snail, put out your horns/ I'll give you bread and barleycorns). Then boil for a short while and serve with lots of garlic butter. Cruthinboy -- snails need lime (calcium carbonate) to make their shells. Therefore in areas with acidic soil you tend to get more slugs instead, although you may get snails near walls where they can get lime from the mortar. I think some sea-slugs are eaten, (although sea-cucumber is sometimes incorrectly called sea-slug). Sea-slugs are molluscs too, but are not closely related to land slugs. Please feed back results of any experiments...

[dwl]

Thanks New Forester - very comprehensive. My query was only raised from finding many, many slugs in the garden recently. There is no way I will be eating anything that leaves a slime trail behind :-) :-) Similarly, I believe it was Swift who said "It was a brave man who first ate an oyster" !!

[cruthinboy]

Thanks for that New Forester - I thought there might be some chemical/geological reason. When you say slugs are just snails that have lost their shells - I presume you mean as a species not individually!