Snail shells have been found in archaeological excavations, indicating snails have been eaten since prehistoric times. A number of archaeological sites around the Mediterranean have been excavated yielding physical evidence of culinary use of several species of snails used as food. The Romans, in particular, are known to have considered escargot an elite food, as noted in the writings of Pliny.
Heliciculture, also known as heliculture, commonly known as snail farming, is the process of raising land snails specifically for human use. Lumaca romana, (Roman snail), was an ancient method of snail farming in the region about Tarquinia. This snail farming method was described by Fulvius Lippinus (49 BC) and mentioned by Marcus Terentius Varro in De Re rustica III, 12. The snails were fattened for human consumption using corn flour and aromatic herbs. People usually raised snails in pens near the house, and these pens were called “cochlea”.
“Fulvius Lippinus first formed preserves for sea-snails, in the territory of Tarquinii, shortly before the civil war between Cæsar and Pompeius Magnus. He also carefully distinguished them by their several species, separating them from one another. The white ones were those that are produced in the district of Reate; those of Illyria were remarkable for the largeness of their size; while those from Africa were the most prolific; those, however, from the Promontory of the Sun were the most esteemed of all. For the purpose, also, of fattening them, he invented a mixture of boiled wine, spelt-meal, and other substances; so that fattened periwinkles even became quite an object of gastronomy; and the art of breeding them was brought to such a pitch of perfection, that the shell of a single animal would hold as much as eighty quadrantes. This we learn from M. Varro.” – Pliny the Elder, Natural History. Book 9. Chapter 82. 173 - 174.
“There are many kinds of snails, such as the small white ones, which come from Reate: the large variety which are imported from Illyricum, and the medium size which come from Africa: but they vary in size in certain localities of each of those countries. Thus, there is found in Africa a variety which are called "solitannae” of so great size that their shells will hold ten quarts: and so in the other countries I have named they are found together of all sizes.“ –Marcus Terentius Varro. Roman Farm Management ("De Agri Rustica”). Book III. 14.
The edible species Otala lactea has been recovered from Volubilis in present-day Morocco. This archaeological recovery is from an era of Roman Empire occupation of this provincial capital, which site was known to embody a very highly developed ancient civilization since its days as a Phoenician and Carthaginian colony.
“Wall fish” were also often eaten in Britain, but were never as popular as on the continent. There, people often ate snails during Lent, and in a few places, they consumed large quantities of snails at Mardi Gras or Carnival, as a foretaste of Lent.
According to some sources, the French imported brown garden snails to California in the 1850s, raising them as the delicacy escargot. Other sources claim that Italian immigrants were the first to bring the snail to the United States. Escargot (French for snail) is a dish of cooked land snails, usually served as an appetizer in Spain and in France. Escargot is a typical dish in the Catalan region of Spain.
Not all species of land snail are edible, and many are too small to make it worthwhile to prepare and cook them. Even among the edible species, the palatability of the flesh varies from species to species. In France, the species Helix pomatia is most often eaten. The “petit-gris” Helix aspersa is also eaten, as is Helix lucorum. Several additional species, such as Elona quimperiana, are popular in Europe.
Text source: (1) (2) (3) Images: Vikings, History channel
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