Today, snails are regarded as a unique delicacy in France, but the French are not the first people in history to try to eat snails. On the whole, Europeans' eating snails can be traced back to the 4th century, that is, the late Roman Empire, when the so-called France did not exist. However, Roman snail cooking recipes were lost after the barbarian invasion. It was not until about 1400 that people in France began to catch wild snails, wash them, cook them, and then pick out the meat from their shells with needles. There are also rich people who bake snails with spices.

The French ate snails in the Middle Ages for two reasons. First, the grape planting industry in medieval France was very developed, and snails were the main pests that harmed grape leaves at that time, so the French began to try to eat snails, killing two birds with one stone. Secondly, at that time, almost all the territory of France was Catholic. According to Catholic regulations, it is forbidden to eat meat and poultry during lent every Friday and around April every year. Snails, like fish, are legal meat that can be eaten during fasting.

Snail meat is rich in nutrition and has the reputation of soft gold. Together with foie gras and oysters, it is called the three treasures of French cuisine. French snails are bigger and thicker than ordinary snails, especially snails from Burgundy, which are usually roasted and eaten. Before eating snails and the Reformation in Europe, mackerel was used by northern European Catholics to replace meat in Friday fasting diet, which led to huge sales, and dry-cured mackerel even reached the Mediterranean market. Mackerel is a common supplementary source of protein for the poor, soldiers and sailors. After that, France discovered a new ingredient-snail, which also broadened the way of food.

However, the French courts at that time still held a rejection and attitude towards snails. In the18th century, eating snails became a fashion in France, and it became a popular way to eat snails by keeping their shells, filling them with different seasonings and baking them. According to different eating habits in different parts of France, different practices such as Burgundy snail, Provence snail, Bordeaux snail and Dijon snail began to appear, and snails were really linked to French cuisine.