How to Clean, Prepare and Cook Wild Giant African Snail

For cooking snails with bacon, you need the following ingredients. Please note that these are very approximate proportions, and it is not necessary to keep precise amounts. Do everything to your taste.

• Giant African Snails, as much as possible, we are not in France to eat only a half-dozen
• Streaky bacon is the best - it has a very lovely fatty structure, which is perfectly suitable for this recipe.
• Garlic, a few cloves for strong aromas.
• Sage, Oregano and Parsley, preferably fresh, but dried will also work
• Lime to sprinkle with juice.
• Fresh salad leaves for serving.

After rain, in the Philippines, go to wet grassy or forest areas. Giant African snails are easy to spot due to their size, and after the rain, they stay away from shelters. Collect only healthy, active snails.

After collection, it is time to purge snails or clean inside the snails. This is a very important step to remove toxins from the snails. The snails themselves are not toxic, but the plants they eat can potentially be dangerous. So, a few simple steps, simple but time-consuming, will make your snails safe to cook.

1. Place snails in a wet container with airflow
2. Keep them slightly wet (not flooded)
3. Do not feed them for 2–3 days (they will purge naturally)
4. Clean the container regularly
5. Then feed them clean food (e.g., carrots) for 1-2 days
6. You will see colored waste – this means they are clean

After purging, wash the snails thoroughly with clean water several times to remove dirt and slime. Some chefs advise using seawater for washing.

When snails are ready to be cooked, boil them in salted water, preferably a large amount for easy removal of the rest of the slime.

1. Bring salted water to a boil
2. Add snails
3. Boil for about 10 minutes
4. Remove and transfer to cold water to cool

The best way to serve the snails is to serve them cleaned and ready to eat. Therefore, it is necessary to separate the meat from the inedible parts. A few simple, quick steps and after some practice, it will be very quick.

1. Pull the snail meat out of the shell
2. Cut off and discard the intestines and internal organs
3. Keep only the firm edible part (foot muscle)
4. Remove any remaining slimy parts
5. Wash again thoroughly

Frying time! At this stage, you should have a lot of clean snail meat, either prepared now or from the fridge, or just defrosted. Let's start!!!

1. Slice bacon and fry until it releases fat and becomes slightly crispy
2. Add snail meat
3. Add crushed garlic
4. Add sage and oregano
5. Cook for several minutes until well combined
6. Squeeze fresh lime juice at the end

Now serve them nicely with discarding liquid fat from the bacon. Fill the place with salad leaves and serve the snails warm on fresh salad leaves. This creates a simple warm salad with strong flavor from bacon, herbs, and garlic.

When prepared correctly, giant African snails are a very affordable and surprisingly tasty source of protein. If you not sure, please have a look at our video, how we cook these snalis





The key is proper cleaning, patience, and thorough cooking. This method turns a wild ingredient into a safe and enjoyable meal.