- Caracoles: Snails in Sauce

Ingredients:

1 lb. of snails-live; 1 Tb. flour; 2 bay leaves; 2 small onions, chopped; 8-10 cloves garlic, minced; 5-6 parsley sprigs; 5-6 peppercorns- crushed with mortar and pestle; 1 Tsp. cumin- crushed with peppercorns; 1 Tsp. paprika.  Vinegar, olive oil and salt.  Tools: mortar and pestle.

Preparation:

The most important and unpleasant part of making snails is cleaning them.  Leave the snails in a cool place in a covered container without food or water for at least 48 hours.  Then you should wash them several times in enough vinegar to cover them and a large pinch of salt.  Do not remove the snail itself, but clean off the mucus that is released by the vinegar.  Wash the snails at least 3-4 times.   Place the snails in a pot with just enough water to cover them.  Add one bay leaf, one onion, and 4-5 garlic cloves and boil for one hour.  While the snails are cooking, prepare the sofrito: in olive oil, fry the rest of the garlic, onion and parsley and the other bay leaf.  Remove from heat and mash with the peppercorns and cumin, paprika and flour; return to pan and fry again briefly.  Lower the heat of the snails to low heat, add the sofrito and cook for another hour.  Serve with bread for dipping in the sauce.