Snail Take-out!

When visiting Barcelona, no one will miss Gaudi's Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family) Church. One beautiful sunny day, I was on my way to visit the church but get distracted by the local food place, which just opened its door at 11am. I am not sure what to call them, but those kinds are everywhere. They sell cooked food ready for take-out and sometimes wines at the other side of the store. The one I went to, they are roasting chicken also. That is how they attracted me into the place.

There are many foods, which look well prepared and have lots of varieties from meat to vegetable. I tried codfish with pin nuts and raisin on top. The cod is very tender but the dish is bit too oily.

I was surprised to see snails in Barcelona (did not know Spanish eat snails too). Different than the ones I had in France (which is mainly cooked with garlic and parsley), snails are cooked in a strong tasty tomato sauce. The snails are smaller than those I had in France. Maybe they are different kinds. But the weird thing is that the snails are not tightly in the shell; instead, you can even see their little head and mouth. As if when the snails are taking afternoon stroll, the chef just freeze that moments.

They are very tasty with the sauce. I only eat the top part of the snail meat, that means I discard the later part of the snail because sometimes they can full of eggs and tasty sandy. But one friend says you can eat the whole thing. Well, that is my personal preference. I was slowly picking snails with my hand in the park right in front of the Sagrada Familia church when everyone else is lining up to see the monuments. Oh, well, I am not in a hurry, it is called vacation!
I think the snail is one of the coolest animal, not only they are tasty, but they can also self-reproduce and freeze in winter then revival in spring.

“Most snails are hermaphrodites. This means that they are both male and female. All hermaphroditic snails can lay eggs. They can "mate" with themselves and thus only one can reproduce in an aquarium or pond.”

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090104133148AAZTAJ5

I have a snail pet at home, since it is self-reproduce, hopefully one day I can have an army of snails for…