What French appetizer consists of snails cooked with garlic butter?

The French appetizer consisting of snails cooked with garlic butter is escargots. The word is the French term for edible land snails, and the dish is most famously associated with Burgundy, where it is commonly prepared with parsley-garlic butter.

A classic version, escargots de Bourgogne, places cooked snails in shells or specialized dishes, covers them with beurre à la bourguignonne, and bakes them until the butter is bubbling. The butter typically includes garlic, parsley, and seasoning, creating the rich sauce that is spooned up with bread.

Escargots are not the same as frogs’ legs, oysters, or foie gras, although all can appear on menus associated with French cuisine. Foie gras is a preparation of fatty duck or goose liver, while frogs’ legs are commonly called cuisses de grenouille.

Snail-eating has ancient roots in Europe, but escargots became a recognizable part of French restaurant cuisine through regional preparations and nineteenth-century culinary traditions.