Goose neck snails - Seafood prices 'exorbitant' only for the rich

The waters of Galicia in northwestern Spain are famous for a variety of high-end seafood, in which the goose snail is considered to have a very high nutritional value with many trace elements, and the taste is sweet and delicious . In return, their prices are extremely expensive, at the highest possible up to 200-300 euros / kg (about more than 5 million to nearly 8 million / kg).

In Spain, the fishery provides a significant income for people living in coastal areas with a variety of high-value marine animals such as Catalonia red shrimp, Asturias spider crabs, fish. Chief of Cantabrian . but still not comparable with snails . This food is rated for the upper class because its price is hundred times more expensive than regular seafood.

At the restaurant, each plate of gooseneck snails costs about 100 euros (nearly 3 million). In China, the prices of goose snails are extremely expensive, a single one costs 900 yuan (about 3 million). However, there are people who want to buy but can not buy this type of snail. Not to mention the non-edible portion that accounts for nearly half of its weight making the goose snail become one of the most expensive seafood in the world.

Lose your life

Reportedly, the goose-headed snail is called Gooseneck barnacles, also known as Lucifer's Finger (Lucifer's fingers) . These names are mostly derived from the special shape of this strange snail dish. The snail's head is actually very similar to a goose's head with a long neck, a round head and a pointed beak. Also, some of the longer snails are seen to resemble human fingers and nails. That's why this strange snail dish has two such interesting names. The goose-headed snail cannot be raised, but it lives and grows out in the open sea.

The guts of this snail are shaped like a goose neck.

This type of snail only lives in areas where water is very clean. Water quality requirements of gooseneck snails are quite high. If the seawater is seriously polluted, they will not be able to live, even die very quickly. Therefore, they can be considered as signs of pollution of seawater. Their food is wrack algae that grow on rocky islands near the ocean and because their lives are dependent on tides, they are found only on the coast of Galicia and only show up at ebb tide. , where there are frequent large waves hitting.

People who specialize in hunting and catching geese snails are called 'percebeiro' in Spanish. And to become a skilled percebeiro, find many gooseneck snails, each trip to the sea must accept challenges, face the dangers in the famous Galicia sea, violent, unusual weather, unpredictable. Without a specific plan and safety measures, sometimes they can not be caught but also life-threatening.

There is a sad statistic: most people who live on fishing, especially snails, have also witnessed their friends or family members lose their lives because of the Atlantic ocean waves. Talking about the dangers of catching snails, a long time snail specialist Fernando Damas said: 'There are many divers who do not return or there are also many seriously injured divers when work. Because when the worker focused on finding snails on the rocks, they were almost completely turned away from the dangerous ocean. At this time, if there is a violent wave, the possibility of damage is very high. '

The hunt for goose snails gives a high income but it is very dangerous, sometimes it has to pay with life.

In addition, there is a family in the town of Baiona, on the southern coast of Galicia with women who have been living in the hunt for goose snails for many years. The González family is famous not only in the locality they live in but throughout Galicia. The hunt for goose snails seems to have been in the blood of four sisters Susana, Isabel, Lala and Belén González since they were born. Because their parents do the same job and their grandmother and grandmother are also percebeira.

With a family rich in such a profession, the González sisters had a stable job: Lala once owned a grocery store, then a baker of a pastry shop; Isabel had been in the kitchen for years at a tapas shop in Baiona; Susana worked as a manager in a pharmaceutical company; Belén used to be a retail store employee in Baiona. Yet all four of them left to live with the profession or rather the career that their grandmother and grandmother had pursued all their lives.

It seems that the call of the water goddess has awakened the karma that has been in the blood of four sisters. Mr. Belén González, not only is a skilled percebeiro, he is also famous for saving many colleagues' lives, but he also witnessed many percebeiro lost their lives in the turbulent sea. Isabel also shared about the experiences conveyed by her father when hunting snails , 'When catching fish, how to peel them skillfully, if torn directly when separated from rocks and geese. will die and cannot be consumed. There is an offshore rock that is home to some of the best snails in the area. No one could get there, except my father . When his friends returned with 10kg of snails, he brought home 20kg. '

'A lot of people ask me if I ever intended to find another job. I replied: Are you kidding me? Do you think I want a desk job? Here is my office: the ocean and the coast. I was in the open air outside, the wind was playing on my face, my sisters were next to me. What could be better than that? ' , Isabel said.

Just boiling is good enough

Because hunting them is difficult, it can be dangerous to life, and the supply is unstable, depending on the weather and sea temperature in Galicia so the price of goose snails is soaring. Of course this is also absolutely clean seafood and very nutritious. 

The most popular dish is still boiled snails for nine to be able to fully enjoy the taste of the ocean.

In Spain, only high-end seafood restaurants have goose snails. There are many recipes for this special goose-headed snail dish, but this snail has a special flavor so it does not need to be too sophisticated. The most popular dish is still boiled snails for nine to be able to fully enjoy the taste of the ocean.

However, the type of water used to boil snails is not just plain water but also sea ​​water to boil the snail will be better . If you can't find sea water, then mixing a spoon of sea salt into the water is also acceptable. In addition, some people add Greek laurel to the broth to increase the flavor of snail meat. 

The snail head has a very easy way to eat because after the snail is boiled, the snail's body will be softer. At this time, you only need to use two hands to gently press the connection between the body and the screw head to remove the shell easily. And the edible part is the white snail meat inside, its nutritional value is worth the money that diners spend. 

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