Bover, snail, widow or bigmouth, all go inside the pot

PalmaApril 25th is Saint Mark's Day, one of the most cherished festivities for lovers of consuming gastropod mollusks, generally known as snails. As the popular saying goes, “he who eats snails for Saint Mark's Day enjoys good health for free” and it is customary to eat them on this day. Some say that eating snails for Saint Mark's Day prevents being touched, that is, falling ill in one way or another. My great-grandmother used to eat one raw every year and she did well, until she was 93. In my town, they don't have snail feasts for Saint Mark's Day, but rather they are typical for the Cross, on May 3rd, a little later. This day is a big celebration in the Camarata neighborhood, and all the locals who have at least one leg go down to eat snails with family and friends.

The generic word, ‘caragol’, which coexists with the form ‘cargol’ in the Principality of Catalonia, has an uncertain origin. The name of this small animal led the linguist Joan Coromines to spill five pages of ink in the Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana (DECat). According to the linguist, this word may have its origin in the pre-Roman languages of the ancient European substratum, from which the Romance forms such as the Catalan, Occitan, and Aragonese ‘caragol’, the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician ‘caracol’, and the French ‘escargot’ have emerged; but also the Lithuanian ‘kriaukle’ and the Greek ‘kharábolas’. Thus, the word would originate from an expressive root ‘kakar–’ which would refer to the animal’s shell. The word would have developed in Catalan and Occitan and, later, would have been adopted by the rest of the languages, as indicated by the ending ‘-ol’ without diphthongation.

Species and varieties

However, despite this interesting generic term, we have various names that allow us to differentiate snails into species and varieties. One of the best known is that of the "caragol bover" (ox snail), which is larger and has dark-colored flesh. This species (Helix aspersa) seems to take its name from the noun ‘bou’ (ox), perhaps because it resembles the mammal in color, size, and horns. Alongside the "bovers", we have the Otala punctata. Another species, prized for its size, is the Iberellus balearicus, an endemic snail breed known as the "caragol de serp" (snake snail), due to the similarity between the colors of the shell's helix and those of the Balearic green whip snake. This snail is found in the Serra de Tramuntana area and, although general snail collection is prohibited, it can be found on some farms. Similar to the "caragoles", but with a dark-colored mouth, we find the "viuda" or "caragol moro" (Helix lactea). When snails, generally the "caragoles", do not have a well-formed mouth, or at least do not seem so to the touch, we call them "bocamolla" (soft mouth), more fragile than the rest. Also, as summer approaches, it is common to eat Helix, which are smaller than the rest and are usually caught

All this without leaving Mallorca. If we turn our gaze to the mainland, we find other curious snail names. Recently, a friend from El Catllar told me about the Pseudotachea splendida, characterized by its whiteness and finely drawn helix, and quite similar to the hazelnut or Jewish snail (Theba pisana and Cernuella virgata). Exclusive to the Peninsula, mainly in the Terres de l'Ebre and the north of the Valencian Country, is the "caragol vaqueta", also known as "xoneta", "xona", or "regineta" (Iberus gualtieranus alonensis), prized for its meat and generous size. Also common is the "caragol llistat" (striped snail), a showy species with a thin shell, yellowish, brownish, or greenish in color, which gives its name to the species Cepaea nemoralis.

Popular wisdom

), prized for its meat and generous size. The banded snail is also common, a showy species with a thin shell, yellowish, brownish, or greenish in color, which gives the species its name And if snails are characterized by one quality, it is by their slowness. Probably, we have heard a friend or acquaintance who is not known for their quickness or speed say that ‘it takes longer than a snail to get to Lluc’, and that is because if the snail starts from afar, God knows when it will arrive. And when we are celebrating, when we have a good snail feast, snails are usually accompanied by good aioli and bread, but also by wine. Hence the saying ‘snails and fish are born in water and die in wine’. As they say in our home, if you don't drink wine or eat bread with snails, they stick to your intestines. Be that as it may, from a common animal we are capable of making an exquisite dish and a good party. And from a small animal, a philologist is capable of talking about it all evening.