Torta di Mandole. River Cafe. Cocoanuts. Champagne.
Today is National Escargots Day. Snails were the foie gras of their day, the emblem of a gourmet restaurant. Escargots went out of vogue in the 1980s, mainly because fresh snails are almost unavailable and chefs swore to use only fresh product. Even in the heyday of escargots, they were always from a can. Now that they're making a comeback, they're still strictly a canned item.Although you can still buy Burgundy snails that really did grow in French vineyards, most snails we eat are petit gris snails that began their long journey in Turkey or Indonesia. Although some snails are raised in this country (mostly in California, where I was once served snails "with the basil on which they lived their entire lives,") live helix snails are illegal to possess in many places, including Louisiana. That was surprising news to the late Chef Jamie Shannon, who at Commander's Palace once brought them to my table still crawling around on a plate. (He then cooked them.)The classic way of serving snails is in a baking dish (or the shells, if they can be found) with butter, garlic, and parsley. That accounts for much of the popularity of escargots: we like dipping bread in garlic butter. The comedian Orson Bean told Johnny Carson one night, "I hate snails, but I love the butter they serve them in. So I say, 'Bring me an order of escargots, but hold the slugs.'"
This is the day in 1976 when a wine tasting in Paris turned the wine world upside down. In a blind tasting by a panel of traditional wine authorities, California wines went up against the best wines of Bordeaux. A Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena and a Cabernet Sauvignon from Stag's Leap Wine Cellars came in first. The experts praised both Napa wines being as obviously French. It was the beginning of a process that continues picking up speed, as the winemaking styles of California set the standards of taste for the rest of the world. A great account of the tasting can be read in George Taber's book, Judgment of Paris.
