Snails have been eaten for thousands of years, going back at least as far as the Pleistocene. Archaeological evidence of snail consumption is especially abundant in Capsian sites in North Africa, but is also found throughout the Mediterranean region in archaeological sites dating between 12,000 and 6,000 years ago. Wild-caught land snails that are undercooked can harbor a parasite (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) that may cause a rare kind of meningitis.

   Snail eggs, sold as snail caviar, are a specialty food that is growing in popularity in European cuisine.

Europe

   Snails are eaten in several European countries, as they were in the past in the Roman Empire. Mainly three species, all from the genus Helix, are ordinarily eaten:

• Helix pomatia, or edible snail, generally prepared in its shell, with parsley butter (size: 40 to 55 mm for an adult weight of 25 to 45 g.; typically found in Burgundy, France; known as l'Escargot de Bourgogne).

• Helix aspersa:

• Helix aspersa also known as the European brown snail, is cooked in many different ways, according to different local traditions (size: 28 to 35 mm for an adult weight of 7 to 15 g.; typically found in the Mediterranean countries of Europe and North Africa and the French Atlantic coast; Helix aspersa aspersa known as le Petit-gris).

• Helix aspersa maxima (size 40 to 45 mm for an average weight of 20 to 30 g.; typically found in North Africa).

   Snails are a delicacy in French cuisine, where they are called escargots. In an English-language menu, escargot is generally reserved for snails prepared with traditional French recipes (served in the shell with a garlic and parsley butter). Before preparing snails to eat, the snails should be fasting for three days with only water available. After three days of fasting, the snails should be fed flour and offered water for at least a week. This process is thought to cleanse the snails.

   Snails are also popular in Portuguese cuisine where they are called in Portuguese caracóis, and served in cheap snack houses and taverns, usually stewed (with different mixtures of white wine, garlic, piri piri, oregano, coriander or parsley, and sometimes chouriço). Bigger varieties, called caracoletas, are generally grilled and served with a butter sauce, but other dishes also exist such as feijoada de caracóis. Overall, Portugal consumes about 4,000 tonnes of snails each year.

   Traditional Spanish cuisine also uses snails ("caracoles" in Spanish; "caragols" or "cargols" in Catalonian), consuming several species such as Cryptomphalus aspersus, Otala punctata, Helix pisana, or Helix alonensis among others. Snails are very popular in Andalusia, Levante and Catalonia. There are even snails celebration, as the "Aplec del cargol", which takes place in Lleida each May and draws more than 200,000 visitors from abroad. Small to medium-size varieties are usually cooked in several spicy sauces or even in soups and eaten as appetizer. The bigger ones may be reserved for other more elaborated dishes, such as the "arroz con conejo y caracoles" (a paella-style rice with snails and rabbit meat, from the inner regions of south-eastern Spain), "cabrillas" (snails in spicy tomato sauce, typical from western Andalusia) or the Catalonian caragols à la llauna (grilled inside their own shells and then eaten after dipping them in garlic mayonnaise) and à la gormanda (boiled in tomato and onion sauce).

   In Greece, snails are especially popular in the island of Crete, but are also eaten in many parts of the country and can even be found in supermarkets, sometimes placed alive near partly refrigerated vegetables. In this regard, snails are one of the few live organisms sold at supermarkets as food. They are eaten either boiled with vinegar added, or sometimes cooked alive in a casserole with tomato, potatoes and squashes. Limpets and sea snails also find their way to the Greek table around the country. Another snail cooking method is the Kohli Bourbouristi (κοχλιοί μπου(ρ)μπουριστοί) a traditional Cretan dish, which consists of fried snails in olive oil with salt, vinegar and rosemary.

   They feature often in Cyprus taverna menus, under the mezes.

   In Sicily, snails (or babbaluci as they are commonly called in Sicilian) are a very popular dish as well. They are usually boiled with salt first, then served with tomato sauce or bare with oil, garlic and parsley. Snails are similarly appreciated in other Italian regions, such as Sardinia.

   Snails (or bebbux as they are called in Maltese) are a dish on the Mediterranean island of Malta, generally prepared and served in the Sicilian manner.

   In southwestern Germany there is a regional specialty of soup with snails and herbs, called "Black Forest Snail Chowder" (Badener Schneckensuepple).

   Although there is not usually considered to be a tradition of snail eating in Britain, common garden snails Helix aspersa were eaten in the Southwick area of Sunderland in North East England. They were collected from quarries and along the stone walls of railway embankments during the winter when the snails were hibernating and had voided the contents of their guts. Gibson writes that this tradition was introduced in the 19th Century by French immigrant glass workers. "Snail suppers" were a feature of local pubs and Southwick working men were collecting and eating snails as late as the 1970s, though the tradition may now have died out.