The history of the snail in the human diet dates back to prehistory, as archaeologists have found heaps of shells in inhabited caves.
One century before Christ, the Romans ate them fried after letting them drain in milk. The snail was a popular product, as it was later in Roman Gaul. The Romans were the first to store these living animals in parks surrounded by water to prevent escapes.
Then the Christian Church considered the meat of crawling animals to be impure. The snail thus became the meat of the poor or those during lean days. This practice continued to the point that the snail disappeared from the traditional diet.
In the 16th century, snails were gathered around La Rochelle, from where sailors loaded them alive into barrels to supply "fresh meat" on board.
In the 19th century, a group of gastronomes revived the snail's popularity, but the fate of the snail remained linked to that of the Carême.
In 1814, the famous chef Antonin Carême seems to have given the snail its noble status. In fact, Talleyrand asked his Burgundian chef to prepare snails for a dinner in honor of Tsar Alexander I. They were served with butter and parsley (garlic to mask the flavor, parsley to hide the color); the recipe was so successful that it was called "à la bourguignonne". It became so popular that the recipe was called "à la bourguignonne" and appeared at the most exclusive tables.
Paradoxically, during the sad famine of 1816-1818, it was used to feed the most indigent populations.
In 1900, after protests from many detractors, "Vineyard Snails" started being served in fashionable restaurants.
