The story of Peconic Escargot begins in 2013. Taylor Knapp was working as a chef on the North Fork of Long Island and striving to source the restaurant’s ingredients seasonally and locally. He wanted to create an escargot dish – something extraordinary. He knew that escargot was available in cans and frozen, but he was already going to such lengths to gather all his other ingredients from local sources. He started the search for local fresh escargot.
As a last-ditch effort, Taylor contacted a former chef to see if he had any ideas. He didn’t, but jokingly suggested Knapp raise them himself. He got to thinking (which usually spells trouble) and that was the moment Peconic Escargot was born.
Not only snail, Peconic Escargot also offers snail caviar. “We came out with the snail caviar in November 2018 and it’s selling pretty well,” Knapp says.
Stored in large plastic tubs, with plenty of air holes, fresh greens for food and dirt for laying their eggs, the snails are housed in a greenhouse on the grounds of the Peconic Land Trust in Cutchogue.
At any given time, between 50,000 to 70,000 snails are being raised at the facility. Every Monday, Taylor collects orders from chefs and begins processing his snails, choosing the largest for harvest. The snails are purged, which involves feeding them specific greens and grains to cleanse them, then they are processed to be shipped fresh and raw to restaurants.
Restaurant orders can vary from 2,000 to 5,000 snails a week. That’s why plans for harvesting the snail caviar took two years. There needed to be enough snails for escargots, as well as to reproduce before they could begin harvesting the eggs. Only 20 to 30 percent of the snail eggs are harvested for caviar. Rinsed, and then cured in a salt brine, the eggs have a mild saltiness but not the fishiness associated with traditional fish eggs. The flavor of the snail caviar is more earthy—like a mushroom.
Despite the travails of snail husbandry, Peconic Escargot has created an exquisite product that Taylor plans to expand on. A repackaged escargot product will soon hit local stores and smoked escargots are planned for release toward the end of the year.
According to edibleeastend.com. Source of photo: internet
