Heliciculture

Heliciculture, commonly known as snail farming, is the process of raising edible land snails, primarily for human consumption or cosmetic use. The meat and snail eggs a.k.a. white caviar can be consumed as escargot and as a type of caviar, respectively. Perhaps the best-known edible land snail species in the Western world is Helix pomatia, commonly known as the Roman snail or the Burgundy snail. This species, however, is not fit for profitable snail farming, and is normally harvested from nature. Commercial snail farming in the Western world is typically done with Cornu aspersum (morphotypically divided into C. a. aspersa and C. a. maxima), formerly known as Helix aspersa. In tropical climates, snail farming is typically done with the African snail, which biologically does not fall in the family Helicidae, so the meat of which may not be called escargot. Snail meat from the African snail is highly valued and widely consumed, with a variety of cooking techniques. Nutrition information is described in Escargot. Roasted snail shells have been found in archaeological excavations, an indication that snails have been eaten since prehistoric times. Lumaca romana, (translation: Roman snail), was an ancient method of snail farming or heliciculture 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 spelt and aromatic herbs. People usually raised snails in pens near their houses, and these pens were called "cochlea". The Romans, in particular, are known to have considered escargot as an elite food, as noted in the writings of Pliny the Elder. The Romans selected the best snails for breeding. Fulvius Lippinus started this practice. Various species were consumed by the Romans. Shells of the edible land snail species Otala lactea have been recovered in archaeological excavations of Volubilis in present-day Morocco. "Wallfish" were also often eaten in Britain, but were never as popular as on the continent.

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Related concepts (4)

Land snail

A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. Land snail is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as slugs). However, it is not always easy to say which species are terrestrial, because some are more or less amphibious between land and fresh water, and others are relatively amphibious between land and salt water.

Heliciculture

Snail

A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name snail is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have a coiled shell that is large enough for the animal to retract completely into. When the word "snail" is used in this most general sense, it includes not just land snails but also numerous species of sea snails and freshwater snails.