This week’s Chopped preview: Snail’d It!

Chopped Season 41, Episode 9 will put four chefs up against an ingredient some of them may have never come across before. Can they handle the pressure?

This week’s episode, “You’ve Got Snail!”, challenges contestants to prepare an appetizer with ingredients that — surprise, surprise — don’t seem like they belong together. And that’s only the beginning.

According to the episode synopsis:

"“The bar for balancing flavors is set high as four chefs find sea snails and candy in the first basket. A mishap in the entree round dramatically affects one chef’s scallop dish. The two remaining competitors must then work with a dessert basket that includes something porky and something sticky.”"

Snails are a unique cuisine everyone should try at least once. Though vastly uncommon in most parts of the world, in Europe, snails are farmed for food the way many types of fish are in America.

Preparing and cooking sea snails is easier than working with land snails. After a little bit of soaking or boiling, it’s as simple as adding them to a saucepan or steamer.

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There are different ways to cook snails depending on the type and the dish you’re planning to serve. Like fish and other sea animals, snails can be sauteéd, baked, and even fried. Certain types are sometimes used in soups such as clam chowder.

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This week’s chefs will have a lot of options when it comes to their appetizer — but the candy component will make things interesting.

As for that sticky ingredient at the end … we’ll just have to wait to discover its mysterious identity.

Will you be tuning in to this week’s episode of Chopped? Would you knowingly eat a snail — or if you have, what were your thoughts? Let us know with a comment down below.

Chopped is back Tuesday night at 9 ET on Food Network.