Snails​—A Plague or a Delicacy?

BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

THE time: six o’clock in the morning. The place: town of Kavieng, in the province of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. A man takes a 1 1/3-gallon [5 L] pail and walks from his house to a vegetable plot in the backyard. It takes him about ten minutes to fill the pail​—not with vegetables but with snails! He goes through this routine every morning in an effort to stem the onslaughts of the snails so that he might enjoy some of the vegetables himself.

According to the natives, Japanese soldiers brought the snail to the New Britain/​New Ireland regions of Papua New Guinea during World War II. Why? Because the very effective allied blockades prevented Japanese supply ships from reaching their troops occupying the Papua New Guinea islands. So the snails were introduced to relieve the acute shortage of food.

A “Demdem” Delicacy

The Melanesians feed the demdems to their fowl and pigs. It is also recommended that they be shelled for chickens, as well as cooked or sun-dried. Pigs learn to crack the shells themselves, but they should be cooked, since pigs can get disease from the parasites carried by the snails.

If snails do not appeal to you raw, boiled, or sun-dried, be assured that there are other ways to prepare them. Just remember that in such places as Switzerland, France, Spain, China, and many parts of Africa, the lowly demdem is a delicacy! It is generally known as escargot, and it graces the tables of some of the finest restaurants.

In Papua New Guinea, a Demdem Committee was recently set up. Its purpose is to show the public how these snails can be prepared, cooked, and served. It even offers a recipe from the owner of a top restaurant in Melbourne, Australia. Whether the committee will succeed in getting the Papua New Guineans to learn the fine points of eating demdems remains to be seen.