Slice of Life Day 21 of 31: Journeys
Eating escargot
Snails swimming in butter
Culinary delight
Artistically arranged
Round swirly shells
Good source of protein
On May 24, celebrate National Escargot Day
Tres delicieux!
There are only two places where I have ever eaten escargot: on cruise ships and in Paris, France. Honestly, I was apprehensive about eating land snails. Or any snails, for that matter. But I maintained cautious optimism and tasted the little shelled delicacies for the sake of immersing myself in a full French cultural experience.
The most appealing part of eating escargot is the melted butter – the unsalted quality kind, not like movie theater butter drizzled on popcorn from a pump dispenser. Snails are savory and a little chewy, and even if on the off-chance they had actually been chunks of those tiny little high-bouncing rubber balls like the kind kids buy out of those quarter machines, they were delicious because they swam in pools of melted butter.
Where everything is far bigger in Texas, everything is far smaller in France – especially the food portions. They give you a tiny little fork and a tiny little plate with some tiny little snails. They even set out wee baby water glasses. And if you want, you can order a tiny little cup of coffee. When I did that, I was served an espresso, because the French call their espresso coffee and drink theirs the way Americans drink a shot of whiskey, throwing it back all at once. It’s served in a tiny little espresso cup, the size of my childhood china teddy bear tea set, with sugar crystals that are supposed to float on the top if it’s made properly. It took some detective work to figure out that if I wanted coffee as I knew it, I should ask for an Americano. Once I learned these European coffee ropes, I was a happier traveler all the way around – and my companions appreciated my much-improved morning outlook. After holding that tiny little espresso cup, I now understand how the one-tiny-little-finger-pointing-up-when-sipping came to be a thing.
Isaiah 7:15 | Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
Common Threads 
The acrostic is fantastic, Kim – and while I have never tried escargot, I believe I might, based on your descriptive detail here! I wonder if they are as chewy as clams-? And I bet all these enchanting tiny things don’t have tiny price tags! The photos are PRICELESS…um… those rolls of colored paper at the Louvre…I see the signs say “do not touch”…say they’re not really for…you know… (!!!!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha! Yes, those are the displays for all the colors that you can purchase. There was not colorful paper like this in the stalls in the Louvre, but when you have to pay to go to the restroom as you do over there, I kind of feel like we should have been offered the full spectrum of colors.
LikeLike
The French can eat tiny things because they taste so much better than big American things. Ken is having to relearn European travel rules as we travel. I keep explaining, he keeps having to learn the hard way.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such great details. The tiny plate and tiny forks…all that butter!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, a rainbow of paper. This was such an interesting post! I’ve never been to France, but I had a friend who was a French chef, and we ate at his restaurant. The tiny portions were the standout feature of the whole meal. Butter is biblical–I didn’t really know that before. “that she may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.” It sounds like a good reason to splurge. (Kim, thank you for the surprise I got in the mail. You are #50 on my list of good things today, in no particular order, haha.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Denise, you are welcome! I am thrilled to be on someone’s list of good things. 🙂 I look at the butter verse and wonder about the salted and unsalted varieties of butter. I’ve always heard to buy unsalted because the salt is a preservative that will disguise spoiled butter, but unsalted is pure and fresh. I’m wondering so much about this verse and how we discern the things that are fresh and wholesome versus things that are cloaked in disguise.
LikeLike
Lovely slice, the French know how to do things well with a huge touch of class in small portions! I have had frogs legs, not snails, they are also quite chewy, but edible. Amazing photos!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! Yes, there is certainly a high degree of class in France. I felt like a hillbilly in Paris. Being from rural Georgia, our class is found in our barbecue and sweet tea – – so it felt very upscale over there.
LikeLike
I love those photos–especially the colored paper at the Louvre. Isn’t everything better with melted better, the super high fat European kind? And this sentence is perfection: “Where everything is far bigger in Texas, everything is far smaller in France – especially the food portions”
LikeLike