Post by Ismail AbdulAzeez on Jun 11, 2014 21:45:06 GMT 1
A couple west of Colac is part of a small group of Australian farmers breeding snails for human consumption.
Slippery, slimy and slow, the average garden snail is not perhaps everyone's idea of a tasty delicacy, but according to snail farmer Helen Hawes, there's a growing market for the humble shell-dweller.
In two years, Helen and her husband have bred around 10,000 snails on their farm at Simpson, west of Colac.
The retirees decided to try their hand at snail farming after a trip to France, and after visiting farms in Europe started looking for a region in Australia with a temperate climate the reliable rainfall.
Since settling on the farm, the couple has been busy trying to breed the ultimate eating snail to sell to French restaurants in Melbourne.
"You look for size really, there's not much else to go by. A good sized snail will reproduce snails that are as big or bigger than it."
Helen says they are aiming to eventually breed about 200,000 snails. But there are steps that must be taken to ensure they're safe for people to eat.
"We take care with them, we feed them lots of leafy greens, and we also supplement their diet with other flowers that they enjoy, and that makes them fat and big.
"And you can't just eat it with all its guts, so they have to be purged and they have to be fasted and all sorts of techniques are used in order to make the snail good for human consumption."
There is a small community of snail farmers in Australia, and Helen says it can be helpful to exchange ideas with them and cooperate.
"There's no blueprint in Australia for snail farming and so we have to learn by trial and error."
Helen says the flavour of snails is difficult to describe, but says the texture is similar to prawns. And she's not concerned about a lack of appetite in the general public for the molluscs.
"It doesn't suit everybody of course, but it's just one of those things that gradually gets into a culture
"As you would imagine, with the snails it's a slow process, but it'll get there."
Source: www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/06/10/4022317.htm
Slippery, slimy and slow, the average garden snail is not perhaps everyone's idea of a tasty delicacy, but according to snail farmer Helen Hawes, there's a growing market for the humble shell-dweller.
In two years, Helen and her husband have bred around 10,000 snails on their farm at Simpson, west of Colac.
The retirees decided to try their hand at snail farming after a trip to France, and after visiting farms in Europe started looking for a region in Australia with a temperate climate the reliable rainfall.
Since settling on the farm, the couple has been busy trying to breed the ultimate eating snail to sell to French restaurants in Melbourne.
"You look for size really, there's not much else to go by. A good sized snail will reproduce snails that are as big or bigger than it."
Helen says they are aiming to eventually breed about 200,000 snails. But there are steps that must be taken to ensure they're safe for people to eat.
"We take care with them, we feed them lots of leafy greens, and we also supplement their diet with other flowers that they enjoy, and that makes them fat and big.
"And you can't just eat it with all its guts, so they have to be purged and they have to be fasted and all sorts of techniques are used in order to make the snail good for human consumption."
There is a small community of snail farmers in Australia, and Helen says it can be helpful to exchange ideas with them and cooperate.
"There's no blueprint in Australia for snail farming and so we have to learn by trial and error."
Helen says the flavour of snails is difficult to describe, but says the texture is similar to prawns. And she's not concerned about a lack of appetite in the general public for the molluscs.
"It doesn't suit everybody of course, but it's just one of those things that gradually gets into a culture
"As you would imagine, with the snails it's a slow process, but it'll get there."
Source: www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/06/10/4022317.htm
