Pyrmont Growers' Market

The first Good Living Growers Market for 2006 was a crowd-pleaser as always. I had thought that after eight photographic posts on my adventures here, there would be little left to capture. But of course there is always something new and exciting to tempt the eyes and intrigue the tastebuds:

That’s right, these are cleaned and purged common garden snails, ready for conversion into delicious garlic-butter-drenched escargots.

Owners Rob and Helen Dyball cultivate these snails in Congewai in the state’s Hunter Valley district. These snails, Rob explained, had been transported in cold storage that morning, as regular customers had made a number of requests for live snails.

These gastropods were just waking up after their enforced slumber, and most seemed quite determined to explore their surroundings. These snails had a glowing ethereal look about them, their shimmering bodies radiating a ghostly silver as they stretched and contracted in a feeler-driven lazy languid locomotion.

Imagine what they'd look like in teeny gold hotpants.

Snails Bon Appetite
245 Congewai Road, Congewai, Hunter Valley
Tel: +61 (02) 4998 0030

Good Living Growers' Market
7.00am - 11.00am on the first Saturday of every month
Pyrmont Bay Park, Pyrmont (opposite Star City Casino)

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Good Living Growers' Market 2006: May ¦ April ¦ March ¦ February
Good Living Growers' Market 2005: November ¦ October ¦ September ¦ August ¦ July ¦ April ¦ March ¦ February

7 Comments:

At 2/07/2006 1:48 am, Robyn said…

Man, I thought those shells were just covered in goo at first. A LOT of goo. I was confused. :P

But whoa, those are fresh! Hmmm. With lots of garlic and butter, I guess that would be tasty.
At 2/07/2006 7:04 am, Anonymous said…

I have a block when it comes to snails. Can't get over the way they look, no amount of garlic, butter, etc., will see me voluntarily trying one. That said, your pics are probably the best ones i've seen of snails in a while! ;-)
At 2/07/2006 8:33 am, PiCkLeS said…

I can't believe that I totally forgot that it was the first Saturday of the month last month. Now I have to wait for another month before I can go for the warm apple cider and organic oj.

I had snails at the little snail the other night, but if the shells looked anything like that I would have run a mile away!
At 2/07/2006 10:34 am, Anonymous said…

Damn, I almost made it on Saturday too! ("Almost" = "really thought about it, but realised that there wasn't a hope in Hades with two small kids. Again.")

Gorgeous photos of the snails! Who could eat anything so cute?? (Although I'm perfectly willing to squash them when they try to feast on my basil...)
At 2/07/2006 12:30 pm, Julia said…

While I enjoy eating snails at the occassional restaurant that serves them - and let's be honest, what isn't fantastic when drenched in copious amounts of butter and garlic - it's not something I would ever do myself.

They do look beautiful though, all golden and shimmering. Thanks for the update, must go to the next one!
At 2/07/2006 1:23 pm, Reb said…

And what's more they taste fab-o. I had a go cooking them last year when they first introduced them to the GLGM, using the instructions they provided. Absolutely WAY nicer than the usual canned jobs that are imported from France and can have the texture of shoe leather. All I got from the markets on Saturday was a nice organic chicken though.
At 2/07/2006 4:24 pm, FooDcrazEE said…

nice pic. Dont get to see much live snails here. The edible kind i meant.

Would be perfect with some sauteed spinach.