Far from Parisian bistros serving up Burgundy snails, one Japanese man has figured out how to farm the slimy species — a feat that has long eluded the French.
Toshihide Takase, 76, says he is “the only person in the world” breeding this specific delicacy after four decades of trial and error to find the right conditions.
French embassy and industry insiders also believe that Takase, who has invested a small fortune and taught himself everything about the creature, is a unique case.
Photo: AFP
Stuffed with butter, garlic and parsley then baked, Burgundy snails — or escargots de Bourgogne — have been part of French gastronomy since the 19th century.
But they are notoriously difficult to farm because they don’t take well to crowded conditions and grow slowly, usually taking two or three years to reach adult size.
The mollusk, whose scientific name is helix pomatia, has been a protected species in France since 1979 to save it from extinction.
Photo: AFP
The vast majority of the several thousand tons of snails eaten by the nation each year are foraged from woodlands in central and eastern Europe.
Around five percent are homegrown in France, but these are a different species, helix aspersa, which are easier to farm and do not have the “Burgundy” name.
“My sister gave me tinned escargots as a present after a trip to France” 45 years ago, Takase said.
Photo: AFP
“But they didn’t taste good, and smelled bad,” said the retired entrepreneur.
Takase became obsessed with producing them himself, even though “at first, everybody acted like I was stupid.”
PERFECT CONDITIONS
Photo: AFP
He stubbornly devoured books on the subject and met French helix aspersa breeders to learn more.
It’s a niche interest anywhere, but highly unusual in Japan, where sea snails are part of the rich cuisine but land snails are seen as a pest that can harm crops.
After seven years of bureaucratic wrangling, Takase was granted a permit to rear helix pomatia and imported 100 specimens from France to start his farm.
The indoor facility in Matsusaka, a town between Osaka and Nagoya, is called the Mie Escargots Development Laboratory.
Crates of live Burgundy snails are stacked in three layers on custom-built metal racks, with humidity and temperature carefully controlled.
Next door is an active metalwork foundry — the first business set up by Takase, who used to manage several ventures.
He says the farm can produce up to 600,000 snails a year, with growth time reduced to just four months.
To achieve this, he adds a calcium-rich powder made from oyster shells to the humid soil, which helps the gastropods grow big and strong fast.
“They love it,” said Takase, who spent 20 years developing his own nutritious snail food from soybeans and corn.
Their feeding containers are washed by hand every three days, because “snails love cleanliness,” he added.
‘AT WHAT PRICE?’
Visitors to the “laboratory” get the chance to taste Takase’s snails, which cost 9,900 yen (US$60) for a pack of 30. There are different prices for restaurants or bulk sales.
For now, business is small-scale and domestic, but he is keen to pass on his know-how to French snail farmers and has launched talks with the embassy in Japan.
William Blanche, co-president of France’s National Federation of Heliciculture, said the species has a “reputation for being impossible to breed.”
It’s “ironic” that Burgundy snails eaten in France have been nowhere near the province of the same name, he said, so is intrigued by Takase’s project.
Even so, Blanche questioned how successful it could be.
“Would our consumers, who are used to different snails, be interested — and at what price?”
A French snail industry insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also raised an all-important point.
“They must taste good,” he said, skeptical that farmed Burgundy snails would be as delicious as wild ones with their “strong woodland taste.”
But “I dream of one day seeing escargots de Bourgogne made in France,” he added. “The marketing buzz would be huge.”
Jason Han says that the e-arrival card spat between South Korea and Taiwan shows that Seoul is signaling adherence to its “one-China” policy, while Taiwan’s response reflects a reciprocal approach. “Attempts to alter the diplomatic status quo often lead to tit-for-tat responses,” the analyst on international affairs tells the Taipei Times, adding that Taiwan may become more cautious in its dealings with South Korea going forward. Taipei has called on Seoul to correct its electronic entry system, which currently lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan),” warning that reciprocal measures may follow if the wording is not changed before March 31. As of yesterday,
The Portuguese never established a presence on Taiwan, but they must have traded with the indigenous people because later traders reported that the locals referred to parts of deer using Portuguese words. What goods might the Portuguese have offered their indigenous trade partners? Among them must have been slaves, for the Portuguese dealt slaves across Asia. Though we often speak of “Portuguese” ships, imagining them as picturesque vessels manned by pointy-bearded Iberians, in Asia Portuguese shipping between local destinations was crewed by Asian seamen, with a handful of white or Eurasian officers. “Even the great carracks of 1,000-2,000 tons which plied
It’s only half the size of its more famous counterpart in Taipei, but the Botanical Garden of the National Museum of Nature Science (NMNS, 國立自然科學博物館植物園) is surely one of urban Taiwan’s most inviting green spaces. Covering 4.5 hectares immediately northeast of the government-run museum in Taichung’s North District (北區), the garden features more than 700 plant species, many of which are labeled in Chinese but not in English. Since its establishment in 1999, the site’s managers have done their best to replicate a number of native ecosystems, dividing the site into eight areas. The name of the Coral Atoll Zone might
Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers. Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest. Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs. The
RSS