Snail Babbouche Broth

Ingredients

What you’ll need

• 2 lbs (900 g) live, food-grade edible land snails
• 1 gallon cold water
• 3 tbsp coarse salt (plus flour for purging)
• Botanical Herb Bag
• 1 strip dried orange peel
• 1 sprig dried wormwood
• 2 tbsp dried mint
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 piece licorice root
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 4 cloves garlic (smashed)
• 1 small dried red chili
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp green tea leaves
• 1 tsp salt

Method

How it comes together

1. 1

   Purge & Clean: Purge snails in a mesh-covered bucket with a handful of flour/bran for 24-48 hours. Wash in cold water, rub vigorously with coarse salt to remove slime, and rinse until water runs completely clear. Discard inactive snails.

2. 2

   Boil & Skim: Place snails in a pot with 1 gallon water. Bring to a boil and skim off all dirty foam for the first 10 minutes.

3. 3

   Add Herbs: Wrap all dried herbs/spices in clean cheesecloth and add to the pot along with smashed garlic, orange peel, cinnamon, and salt.

4. 4

   Simmer: Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer gently at 190°F / 88°C for 2 hours until snail meat is tender and the broth is deep brown and aromatic.

5. 5

   Serve: Ladle snails and broth into bowls. Use toothpicks to extract meat from the shells, and drink the warm, spiced medicinal broth directly.