Snails, for anyone who does not know, are hermaphrodites, possessing male and female sex organs, so all can lay eggs. Some however have been working overtime to feed the palate of the discriminating French family at Christmas, with a new treat that rolls two delicacies into one.

Dominique Pierru was formerly a construction worker and his wife Sylvie ran a fine foods stall in Picardy, north east of Paris. But four years ago they had a brilliant idea and gave up their jobs to foster snails on a diet of herbs and cereals, to turn them into a super-product, snail caviar, called ‘De Jaeger’.

It tastes completely different to traditional sturgeon egg’s caviar or to escargots cooked in their shells with parsley butter and garlic. The tenderized eggs look like small, cream-coloured pearls and have a slightly salty taste, described by the producers as ‘subtle autumn flavours with woody notes’. The exact method is a trade secret but the Pierrus soak them in brine with a splash of rosemary essence at the top of the jar, which allows them to remain fresh but unpasteurised for up to three months.

More than 450 fifty-gramme jars were sold in the months coming up to Christmas, quite expensive at about £50 a jar, a reflection of the labour-intensive nature of the product. However, it compares favourably with the price of farmed sturgeon’s egg caviar, which many people find has too strong a taste. Expect next December to find the Pierrus’ brainwave on the shelves of Fauchon, the gastronomic heart of food shopping in Paris.

From our January 2008 e-newsletter