Pomegranate-Glazed African Land Snails

One of the most famous sights of summertime in Brixton Village is the baskets of African land snails outside the Nigerian-run shops. Snails are as much a delicacy in Nigeria as they are in France, and one buys them alive and fresh in the market before cleaning, preparing and cooking them at home, usually in a spicy pepper sauce.

Consider them somewhere between mussels and squid in texture and looks. Fellow gardeners who know the havoc a hungry mollusc can wreak are not likely to be