Why I’ll never eat escargot again

I’m not naturally adventurous but in recent years I have pushed myself to try new things. Most of the time I am really glad I put myself out there. I’ve become a Nine Inch Nails fan, learned that I adore raw oysters, met lots of fascinating people and expanded my horizons in so many ways.

But sometimes…

Last fall David and I went to Paris (which sounds so casual when in truth I was beyond excited). The food truly lived up to the hype and we both enjoyed our meals immensely. Most of the restaurants offered a three course dinner including starter, main course and dessert. One evening I noticed that escargot was one of the starter options so I decided this was my opportunity. David is not an adventurous eater so he went with the French onion soup.

The escargot was brought out still sizzling and placed before me. Fortunately someone at a nearby table had also ordered escargot and I had surreptitiously watched to find out how to use the accompanying tongs. I cautiously placed the first one in my mouth, not at all sure what to expect. They were delicious! They mostly tasted like the garlic/butter/parsley sauce they were cooked in. I happily ate them all. Well, I did offer one to David but he declined.

Back at our hotel, we packed for our excursion to London. We were catching the train early the next morning and would be spending one night and most of two days there. We had just gotten in bed when I was very suddenly ill. There was very little warning before I was depositing my dinner into the toilet. I had two or three violent episodes of vomiting in a short period of time and then it was over. Except for the rash. I took some Benadryl, went back to bed and hoped for the best. I felt relatively decent the next morning other than being a little tired so we went ahead with our plans.

And that was that. I was, however, a bit concerned about whether or not I might have also developed an allergy to other shellfish. I mean, I adore raw oysters and eat them every time we are in New Orleans. At my next doctor visit the nurse asked the routine question about any new allergies. My list is rather lengthy but I hadn’t added anything new in awhile. I don’t think escargot was an expected response. I asked my doctor whether I should be concerned about eating oysters. He said to just give it a try and find out. I do have an Epi-Pen that I always carry with me. I was a little nervous about it but I ordered some a few weeks later when we were in New Orleans. I was so relieved to find out that I could still eat oysters but escargot was a one-shot deal for me.