The Burgundy snail, also named Roman snail, edible snail, or escargot, is a species of large, air-breathing land snail. It measures about 45 mm across the shell. Native over a large part of Europe, it lives in wooded mountains and valleys up to 2,000 meters altitude and in vineyards and gardens.
Burgundy snails are hermaphrodite [having both sex organs] although they usually mate. Mating takes from 2 hours to as much as a day, producing about 30 to 50 eggs (3 mm in diameter), which are deposited into crevices in the topsoil. They can do this up to six times a year, so the potential is up to 300 new snails for every two snails in your garden. Burgundy snails reach their full sexual maturity at two to four years.
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We have Burgundy snails in our garden. They do not make much damage to the plants and, thus, we don’t mind their presence [we don’t eat them.]
Of more than 100 edible species of snails, Helix pomatia is considered the best, and the ones harvested in Burgundy are the most popular among gourmets. Traditionally, they are baked in a beurre d’escargot, also called beurre a la bourguignonne [butter, shallots, parsley, and garlic].