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Julia Child’s French Escargots
2017-03-12
- This Recipe
- Chef: Julia Child
- Cuisine: French Cuisine
- Course: First Course
- Difficulty: Easy
- Category: Course
- Yield: 12 Escargots
- Servings: 6
- Preparation Time: 30 Minutes
- Cooking Time: 10 Minutes
- This Post
- Chef : François
- Category: Recipe
- Posted on: Sunday March 12, 2017
- Comments : 6 Comments
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Languages :
English | 
Français
La version Française se trouve ICI |
A french tradition, the Escargots by Julia Child |
 | About this recipeA French tradition, that you will find during the end of year season on many French tables, and occasionally in French restaurants.However to be honest, I feel like I've seen that dish more often in America, for some reasons. I guess the same goes with French people who think that American only eat burgers, Americans find this a typical French dish, when honestly, the younger French generations rarely eat this dish, they are much more into sushis and organic food... |
However, I like to cook Escargots on occasion, for friends and family, and I found out that for a recipe that seemed so simple, there are actually a few tricks to know, that I share here. Thanks to Julia we now can cook great Escargots ! |
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 | Julia Child, we owe you respectThis is a recipe of Julia Child.I have a great respect for Julia, for the dedication to French Cuisine and her huge work to assemble the French recipes and techniques in her book. She acquired her knowledge while living in Paris and studying at the Cordon Bleu de Paris |
 | Her book, a masterpieceJulia spent many years in Paris and discovered the French food, and upon attending the Cordon Bleu, learned about French cuisine techniques.After she moved back to the United States, Julia Child wrote her book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol.1", a masterpiece that is still a best seller that you still can find nowadays in all bookstores in the states. What an impressive undertaking ! To purchase online, see HERE |
 | In fact, the book was written with two French ladies, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle. These three ladies met in Paris and started an informal school "L'école des trois gourmandes" (The School of the Three Food Lovers). When Julia appeared on television, she kept the same name on a sticker on her chest. |
After writing her book, Julia appeared on American television in a series called "The French Chef" |
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Julia in PasadenaI learned about Julia Child quite late : While I was living shortly in Pasadena for a class at the Cordon Bleu, my teachers mentioned Julia and her book.Coincidence: Julia lived in Pasadena and studied at the Cordon Bleu (but that in Paris). While in Pasadena, I decided to visit her place House of Julia Child 625 Magnolia Avenue Pasadena, California |
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| This house is not a museum but a private house |
 | Julia in ParisAnd when I later visited Paris, (see my post HERE), I had to walk by the place she had been living in Paris...House of Julia in Paris 81, rue de l'Université 75007 Paris France |
 | You probably saw the movie about Julia Child "Julie and Julia", starring Meryl Streep et Amy Adams. To see the movie, you may buy it on DVD for instance HERE |
A movie that you must see, I insist !. Meryl Streep plays Julia Child, and delivers a great acting performance, as always... |
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The movie shows Julia's life, including her days at the Cordon Bleu Paris |
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Here, this is a picture when Meryl Streep (Julia Child) first arrives in Paris |
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The house of Julia, in the movie, is not 'rue de l'université' as I told you earlier, the movie location was a bit further, and of course I had to see it as well, as I enjoyed very much the movie ! House of Julia (movie) 10, Rue de Seine 75006 Paris France |
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 | There are other film locations to discover while in Paris : This article talks about those places |
 | Source of the recipeJulia Child's book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol.1" is a must-have...To purchase online, see HERE |
 | I initially thought the book would not be very useful, to be honest. However I changed my mind : it is very useful ! Julia captured the traditional recipes, and this information is important to us, food lovers |
 | The recipe is on page 103 |
 | Origin of the recipeThis dish was in fact first described in a 1825 book, by the French cook Borel ("Nouveau dictionnaire de cuisine” ). |
Ingredients
 | 12 Snails1 Cup Butter (226 grams)¼ Cup Shallots (40 grams)4 Garlic Cloves¼ Cup Parsley (15 grams)1 pinch of Salt1 pinch of Pepper |
Steps
 | Let's start by mincing very thinly the Shallots (¼ Cup or 40 g) |
 | Combine the minced Shallots (¼ Cup or 40 g) and theButter (1 Cup or 226 g) |
Chop very thinly the Garlic Cloves (4) and theParsley (¼ Cup or 15 g) (for this I'm using a small food processor) |
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 | Combine everything in a mixing bowl. Note that the Butter must be cold and not soft. Add in theSalt (1 pinch) and thePepper (1 pinch) The butter must be cold |
 |  I do not recommend to mix by hand, as this would force you to overwork the batter which would turn too liquidy... |
 |  My recommendation is mix with the stand mixer (like a Kitchen Aid appliance), using the 'paddle' |
| This is the result you should obtain, a creamy batter that is not liquid |
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| And this is what you should NOT get, a liquidy batter as it would make your job pretty difficult for the next steps |
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The shellsI bought those Escargot Shells, and I have been using them over and over for 10 years. Nature makes the best materials !Wash them with boiled water and soap, rest a few hours , then rince, wash them with running water, and dry them in the sun. Finding escargot shells is not difficult anymore ! You can find them online, or even in grocery stores sometimes (I saw them at Ralph's).If you live in Los Angeles, you may find them at Nicole's: Nicole's market 921 Meridian Avenue South Pasadena, CA 91030 |
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You will also need the special silverware : snail tongs and snail forks |
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The snailsCanned snails are also pretty easy to find nowadays, online or in stores (same as for the shells, I saw them at Ralph's and at Nicole's) |
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The best option to fill the shells is to use a Pastry Bag |
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 | The pastry tip size shouldn't be too large : 0.39" (or 25/64" or 1 cm) in diameter |
 | Inserting the creamStart by inserting the creamy batter |
 | You may use a spoon, but it's not as clean as the Pastry Bag Note: Look at my sad face on this image filling with a spoon, and at the happy face on the previous image working with the Pastry Bag... Just goes to show you : spooning is hard, using a Pastry Bag is easier ! |
| And here's what happens when the batter is too liquidy, I warned you... it's pretty bad, he ? |
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 | And with the right texture of the batter, the result is much better ! With a batter that is just creamy but not liquidy, you will fill the shells more easily. Nice, clean and sweet ! |
 | Then insert one of the 12 Snails |
 | and finish by filling with more batter |
Then press with your thumbs |
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 | To hold the snails in a upside down position, I am using those special snail dishes |
Resting in the fridgeHere you go! At this stage you will place the snails in the refrigerator for a few hours until your guests arrive |
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Baking Finally, bake the Escargots in preheated oven at 360 °F / 180 °C for about 10 minutes |
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 | Ready to be savored ! |
Sooooo good... C'est siiii bon.... |
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All recipes of First Courses  
All the Recipes of First Courses are HERE |
Cooking with the same Chef ?
All recipes of Julia Child |
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Recipes from the same Book!
All recipes from the book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol.1" |
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Cooking with the same ingredients ?
What else to cook with Parsley |
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12 Snails
1 Cup Butter (226 g)
¼ Cup Shallots (40 g)
4 Garlic Cloves
¼ Cup Parsley (15 g)
1 pinch of Salt
1 pinch of Pepper
Comments for This Recipe
So you will taste primarily garlic and parsley. The snail "meat" is more chewy than chicken for sure, but in the end, it's a first course type of dish that French eat only on occasions like end of year.
I personally like it, as Julia Child did, and among my American friends who were not exposed to it when they grew up as it's my case, I would say half of them love this dish, while the other half doesn't care much about it...
HTH
Well done!
Totally agree. Sometimes the simplicity is too complex and the complexity is too simple. Authenticity is the simplest way