# On a menu, is escargot meat or seafood? (nm) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 19, 2002, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580 "2002-08-19T12:19:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Princesshumble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@Princesshumble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princesshumble)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/1 "2002-08-19T12:19:02Z")
I know escargot are mollusks, but some snails have gills and others don’t. This begs the question of what category on a menu under which to place them. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/2 "2002-08-19T12:26:04Z")
Appetizers. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/3 "2002-08-19T12:31:17Z")
It’s an appetizer. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/4 "2002-08-19T12:32:51Z")
Too slow again! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/5 "2002-08-19T13:52:12Z")
The snails that are used for escargot are land snails - called helix garden snails - not underwater snails. Therefore, they should be considered as much “meat” as slugs would be, and are not, strictly speaking, seafood. They have lungs. ---
**Author:** ![Princesshumble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@Princesshumble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princesshumble)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/6 "2002-08-19T14:02:16Z")
It should not matter if an animal has lungs or not to consider it seafood. Plenty of animals that live in the sea have to surface for air. My thinking is that a snail is seafood because it is a Mollusk. All mollusks are shellfish and shellfish is generally considered seafood. If you were allergic to mussels, would you eat escargot? If not, then isn’t it seafood? ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/7 "2002-08-19T14:23:11Z")
Look, sister, I welcome you to the SDMB, but I caution you to look before you leap. “All mollusks are shellfish,” is an assertion that is simply not true. A land snail is a mollusk and is not a shellfish. A slug that you find under a rock in the forest is not a shellfish. Your logic, if I follow it is this: mussels are seafood. Escargot are related to mussels. Therefore, escargot are seafood. Not logical and not true. I think that whatever definition of seafood you choose, it will be most useful if it has to do with the fact that it is food and it comes from the sea. Escargot does not fit that most general guideline. If you want to call them seafood, go ahead. But you asked the question. Uh, you raised the issue of gills/lungs, so I gave you that information since it seemed to be part of your thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/8 "2002-08-19T17:32:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CC \* > **"All mollusks are shellfish," is an assertion that is simply not true.** Also, while they’re mollusks that live in the water, Octopus don’t have shells. ---
**Author:** ![Princesshumble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@Princesshumble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princesshumble)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/9 "2002-08-19T20:32:06Z")
If we define seafood as “food that lives in the sea,” then by this logic, Phreatobius Walkeri , the only known fish in the world that solely lives on land, would NOT be found under the seafood section on a menu, which is absurd. PW is a small, wormlike catfish and was found in the middle of the 1980s in Brazil. This species lives a full life on land among fallen leaves near the river. If it is returned to water, it will quickly jump out of it again. This fish is currently placed in the Pimelodidae family but has many similarities with the Trichomycteridae. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/10 "2002-08-19T20:58:53Z")
Okay, this is me being [anal](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=131408). 😉 When you quote something, it’s usually good form to provide a link to where the quote came from; like so: [PW is:](http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworld/catfishology/phraetobius_sp(1).htm) > [@](#): > > "a small, wormlike catfish and was found in the middle of the 1980s in Brazil. This species lives a full life on land among fallen leaves near the river. If it is returned to water, it will quickly jump out of it again. > > This fish is currently placed in the Pimelodidae family but has many similarities with the Trichomycteridae." ---
**Author:** ![Princesshumble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a88e57/32.png) [@Princesshumble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princesshumble)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/11 "2002-08-19T21:22:17Z")
Thanks for the etiquette lesson. I’m still waiting for relevant information that will definitively place escargot as seafood or not. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/12 "2002-08-19T22:59:44Z")
Well I think I’ve seen it listed as seafood, even though that doesn’t make sense biologically. I just looked for “escargot seafood” in Google and found a fish store that sells them. [http://www.alwaysfreshfish.com/specialty\_items.html](http://www.alwaysfreshfish.com/specialty_items.html) Here are recipe sites that group them under “shellfish” or “fish and seafood” [http://recipes.alastra.com/shellfish/default.html](http://recipes.alastra.com/shellfish/default.html) [http://www.recipesource.com/main-dishes/seafood/escargot-mushroom-caps1.html](http://www.recipesource.com/main-dishes/seafood/escargot-mushroom-caps1.html) This site also mentions “escargots de mer” or sea snails. [http://www.inspection.gc.ca/bil/fishlist/cantransfolder/scantransfolder/seasnail.shtml](http://www.inspection.gc.ca/bil/fishlist/cantransfolder/scantransfolder/seasnail.shtml) Here’s a menu that lists frog legs as “from the sea” [http://www.fdlfeatures.com/DINING/Salty’s/salty’s.htm](http://www.fdlfeatures.com/DINING/Salty%27s/salty%27s.htm) ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2002, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/13 "2002-08-19T23:01:06Z")
escargot is bugs. It’s over there by them crawdads. Yum! ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/14 "2002-08-20T00:23:26Z")
On your plate, they seem rather like “shellfish” or “seafood”[sup]1[/sup], and as these are gastronomic categories, not scientific ones, I don’t have a problem with calling a snail a “shellfish” if that’s how the chefs of the world want them categorized. [sup]1[/sup] - actually, they seem rather like garlic-butter-soaked styrofoam, but “packing materials” is not a recognized food category. ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/15 "2002-08-20T00:27:55Z")
I’m still puzzled by the OP: every restaurant I’ve eaten in that offered escargot simply had them under appetizers. Why the division between “meat” and “seafood”? ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/16 "2002-08-20T00:40:17Z")
I think she’s opening a restaurant and doesn’t know where to list her main dish of escargot.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/17 "2002-08-20T00:43:35Z")
I’m still puzzled by the OP: every restaurant I’ve eaten in that offered escargot simply had them under appetizers. Why the division between “meat” and “seafood”? ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/18 "2002-08-20T00:46:58Z")
Ohmigod! Two snails! **Squish! Squish!** Oops! That was the appetizer… ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/19 "2002-08-20T02:55:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yabob \* > \*\*…actually, they seem rather like garlic-butter-soaked styrofoam, but “packing materials” is not a recognized food category. \*\* ‘Peanuts’ are a good source of protein. ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2002, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580/20 "2002-08-20T07:46:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Squish \* > \*\*I’m still puzzled by the OP: every restaurant I’ve eaten in that offered escargot simply had them under appetizers. Why the division between “meat” and “seafood”? \*\* It might make a difference if you were a catholic, and wanted to eat them on a Friday… According to [EatEthnic](http://www.eatethnic.com/questionsanswers.htm), they’re safe: > [@](#): > > In the 16th century they were classified as “fish” by the Roman Catholic church, I tried searching the Catholic Encyclopedia, to see if the decision has been revoked, but to no avail. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-a-menu-is-escargot-meat-or-seafood-nm/124580.md?page=2)