Recipe: Eggs with Snails

It's a Sunday appetizer, the kind you bring out when you're having people over and want to show off a bit without spending all day cooking. Snails are seasonal business: they're really at their best from October to April, when French breeders (Burgundy, Alsace mainly) offer them fresh or frozen-cooked. The hard-boiled egg is the magic ingredient here, its white becomes the shell, its yolk becomes sauce. Two snails per half-shell, that's the right amount, not overdone. For occasions, save this for an adult dinner, a late-year cocktail party, or a festive Saturday. It's an appetizer with substance, it demands to be looked at before eating. Historically, it's a classic of French bourgeois cooking, less known than traditional garlic snails, but making a comeback. For wines, pick a dry white that holds its own: Chablis, Sancerre, or a good white Meursault. The wine's acidity helps digest the richness of cream and snails. A very young, light Beaujolais blanc can work too, but dry white is really better. Skip reds, they'll overwhelm the dish. For accompaniments, serve warm with a slightly bitter green salad (endives, arugula), or mesclun vinaigrette. Some crushed walnuts on the salad pairs well with the snails. Figure 2 half-eggs per person as an appetizer, 3 if you're making it a single course. If you're feeling bold, add a touch of American sauce (ketchup + mayo + Worcestershire) to the snail mixture, it lifts without dominating.