Puži s krumpirima (Island of Pag)

Ingredients:

• a few handfuls of field snails
• a few potatoes
• onion head ( capules )
• some bacon
• olive oil, salt, pepper

Preparation: 

After the snails have been collected in the field (“harvested”), they should be left in a cardboard box or bag for several days (up to a week) to “purify” and then left in salt water with vinegar to release mucus. Then they should be washed several times in salt water. Boil potatoes with skin in salted water, clean and cut into cubes. Fry onions in olive oil, add bacon, potatoes, pepper and salt and simmer for ten minutes. Roast the cleaned snails on a griddle and serve potatoes with them.

Remark:

Polish snails on the Zadar archipelago are considered a delicacy, although it is often heard that they are poor people’s food. It is best to pick them at dusk or in the morning. In Pag, a few tablespoons of ground red pepper are added to the “fridge”. In some places, snails are cooked and prepared with vinegar ( kvasin ).