Source for escargot?

Regional Dining Discussions Boston, New England
1

Until a few months ago we bought our escargot from the Whole Foods seafood counter; they carried a great product which was frozen escargot in their shells packed with garlic-parsley butter. $1 per snail, 15min at 350F straight from the freezer. Originally it seemed all WF branches stocked it, but a couple years or so ago they moved to only stocking it at their large anchor stores (Fresh Pond and maybe Dedham?). Then a few months ago even those stopped carrying it, and the employees said they donā€™t think itā€™ll be back.

So Iā€™m looking for a new source for escargot, preferably the same or similar preparation. Anyone know where to get something like that?

I know places like Cardulloā€™s carry canned cooked escargot out of the shell (and you can also buy shells to put them in if you so desire), but Iā€™ve always found that to be an inferior product - the ones Iā€™ve had have always been mushy (overcooked?) and a little bland. Kind of like the difference between canned peas and frozen fresh peas. Plus, the convenience of in-their-shell-packed-with-butter canā€™t be beat.

Suggestions appreciated!

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2

iā€™ve only seen them frozen from Turnerā€™s Fish Market in Gloucester. Bought a few times, enjoyed. Not mushy, delicious garlic butter. Do not recall the price.
Check their website, unsure if they are available in their Melrose and/or Salem locations.https://www.turners-seafood.com If Courthouse Fish Market was still open they knew where to source just about everything. Good luck !

3

Those frozen escargots appear occasionally (and sometimes are on sale) at Lidl supermarkets in my area.

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4

Lidl and Costco are shared at the hip.

they do ā€œbig buysā€ - and on your next trip, itā€™s not availableā€¦

even uber big ultra ā€œbrand namesā€ - they buy it, they sell it out, nothing you can count on for ā€˜repeatā€™

5

Thanks all for the tips. Hereā€™s a summary of what Iā€™ve discovered:

Four brands of frozen escargot have come up:

  1. White Toque - 4.4oz/doz. I suspect this is what Whole Foods carried?
  2. Nomade des Jardins - 4.4oz/doz. Has breadcrumbs.
  3. Preferred Selection - 3.14oz/doz
  4. Escal - 2.75oz/doz

Sources (mostly in the Boston area):

  • Turner Seafoods (Gloucester location only) - $13/doz, guessing itā€™s Nomade des Jardins from the ingredient list. (Thanks @sciaccagirl!)
  • Captain Mardenā€™s Seafoods in Wellesley has White Toque $10/doz
  • Formaggio Kitchen on Huron in Cambridge stocks White Toque $12/doz
  • Burkeā€™s Seafood in Quincy apparently supplies Formaggio the White Toque, but sells it for something like $17/doz?
  • James Hook & Co in Boston $17/doz (unsure which brand)
  • Wild Fork Foods in Canton has White Toque $13/doz
  • Wegmans Supermarkets carries Escal $11.50/doz
  • Lidl (in mid-Atlantic states, thanks @GaFoodie!) and occasionally Aldi sometimes carry Preferred Selection - Lidl lists at $6/doz

The box of White Toque says 10min at 425F; I tried that but think my 15min at 350F (which I just made up when I first got them) had less butter spatter? Also, to keep the butter in the shell: cut 3"x3" squares of aluminum foil (4 or 5 across the roll width), place a foil square on the baking sheet and position a snail on it with the opening horizontal, and scrunch the foil up to the shell to hold it in that position. Many shells seem to have holes - for those I wrap a separate foil square around the shell before positioning it as above.

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6

Very extensive research. Thanks.