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6 tablespoons butter

Snail butter (above)

48 snails

2/3 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Fried toast

Sauté the mushroom caps in butter until just slightly tender. Prepare the snail butter. Arrange the mushrooms, cup side up, on a baking sheet. Place a snail in each mushroom cup, cover with a little snail butter, and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Cook in a 400° oven for about 10 minutes, or until thoroughly heated through. Serve on fried toast.

FRESH SNAILS POULETTE

Fresh snails

White wine and water mixed

1 large onion stuck with 2 cloves

1 bay leaf

Pinch of thyme

3 medium onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

8 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 egg yolks

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Prepare the fresh snails as for snails Bourguignonne with fresh snails (page 474). After you have removed them from the boiling salted water, transfer them to a mixture of half white wine and half water. Add the onion stuck with cloves, the bay leaf, and the thyme. Bring to a boil and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes. Sauté the onions and garlic in 6 tablespoons of the butter until they are soft but not browned. When the snails are tender, remove them from the bouillon, and keep them hot in their shells in a hot serving dish.

Remove the onion and bay leaf from the bouillon and taste for seasoning. Add the sautéed onions, bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 minutes. Make beurre manié by kneading the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons of flour. Mix the heavy cream with the egg yolks; add the beurre manié and the cream-egg mixture to the broth. Stir until well blended and thickened, but do not let it boil. Add the lemon juice and chopped parsley and pour over the snails. Serve with plenty of hot French bread.

Turtle, Tortoise, and Terrapin

Turtles come in many different sorts, sizes, and colors, and once the word turtle covered all of them. Now some people restrict the term just to the sea turtles. A tortoise is a turtle that prefers the land, and a terrapin is a variety of turtle that inhabits rivers and coastal swamps along the Eastern seaboard and the Gulf.

Green turtle is the most famous of sea turtles, and the turtle soup that comes from it is extraordinary. If you have never tasted thick, gelatinous turtle soup, freshly made, then you have a great treat awaiting you. The canned green turtle soup is also excellent. Look for brands with turtle fat or meat in the jar or tin; add a little Madeira or sherry to the soup, heat, and serve with a thin slice of lemon and finely chopped parsley.

Commercial fishing for green turtle is centered around Key West, and turtle steak is much fancied in the South. I have eaten it when it resembled the finest veal. Also delicious is turtle liver, which, ideally, should be sautéed in butter with shallots and parsley. Neither steak nor liver reaches the markets very often, so there is not much use longing for them.

Diamondback terrapin has always had enthusiasts in the Eastern part of the country. It was expensive even around the turn of the century — about $120 a dozen. Now it is very scarce, and red-bellied turtle is marketed in Eastern cities as a substitute. Snapper turtle, which is found all through the East in lakes, rivers, and canals, is very popular in some areas, especially eastern Pennsylvania.

TURTLE STEAK FLORIDIAN

Have 11/2 pounds of turtle cut paper-thin. Pound the steaks with the edge of a plate. Dip them in flour. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a skillet that has a cover, and brown the pieces of turtle very quickly. Salt and pepper them to taste and add 1 tablespoon paprika. Pour over them 1/2 cup white wine, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Remove the pieces of turtle to a hot platter. Add 1 cup sour cream to the pan and stir well until it is heated through and blended. Pour the sauce over the turtle steaks and sprinkle with paprika and chopped parsley.

TERRAPIN MARYLAND

Terrapin is a food that people either like tremendously or dislike violently.