Our kids try escargot for the first time! Here’s how it played out…
Lou Lou: “Mom, what’s that smell?”
Me: “It’s escargot”
Lou Lou: “What?”
Me: “ESS-CAR-GO”
Lou Lou: “It smells wonderful, can I try some?”
Me: “Sure!” (as I plop one on her plate)
Lou Lou: “Mom, this is a snail? I can’t eat a snail!”
Me: “Yes you can, try it!”
Lou Lou: “No way!” “I’m not eating that”
And she refused.
Escargot are a French favorite (French people consume 40,000+ metric tons of snails every year), prepared with butter, garlic and parsley its usually served in its shell at French restaurants. Most kids sneer and snicker at the sight of them when they’re served, and we don’t blame them. Especially when most kids grow up playing with them in the garden and of course after watching the most recent Disney film “Turbo”, who would want to eat Turbo, he’s so darn cute?
There’s no way we could be in France and not have them at least “try it”. So with careful plotting, we introduced Lou Lou to the “snail tong”. Bewildered, she began to try and figure it out, grabbing at the snail like a crab with new claws. After her 5 minute practice session she finally got the hang of it, forked out her first piece of escargot and ate it.
Me: “So what do you think?”
Lou Lou: “It tastes nice. Can I have another snail?”
Me: “It’s called escargot honey…”
Lou Lou: “Why? It’s a snail.”
Me: “Escargot is snail in French”
Lou Lou: “Mom, just call it a snail. I’d rather eat snails than an ESS-CAR-GO!”
Huh???