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Preparing Giant Land Snails for Food
Preparing Giant Land Snails for Food is a traditional Nigerian recipe for a classic method of preparing giant land snails by gutting, de-sliming and then boiling in preparation for use in recipes as food. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Nigerian version of: Preparing Giant Land Snails for Food.
prep time
120 minutes
cook time
120 minutes
Total Time:
240 minutes
Serves:
8
Rating: 
Tags : Nigeria Recipes
The giant land snail is a delicacy in parts of West Africa, particularly Ghana and Nigeria. An individual snail can weight up to 1kg and only the foot is eaten (the part the snails crawl on). They need a fair amount of preparation, but because they are a classic ingredient, here is the way to prepare them.
Method:
About 30% of the weight of a typical Achatina giant land snail is shell. To prepare the snail you need first to remove the shell. Crush with a hammer or a rolling pin. This kills the snail and allows you to remove the shell, the flesh from within the shell and the viscera.
Take a sharp knife and cut off the foot (this is the part the snail crawls on). Clean the inside of the foot then rub the foot liberally with wood ashes (the traditional method) or with flour mixed with coarse sea salt (the modern method).
Wash under cold running water then repeat the rubbing and washing process until there are not traces of mucous. At this point, make sure you have removed all traces of intestines then cut off all the black parts and the head.
The snails are now ready for cooking. Typically they are boiled for several hours to soften then cut up and uses as an ingredient in pepper soup or they are smothered in hot sauce and served.
In Africa the viscera and shells are not wasted. They are ground, dried and then mixed at a 1:9 ratio with poultry feed to make snail food.
