Caracoleira (snail gathering basket)

The snails go over the shoulder, no sticks needed under the sun.

Some customs are like this. The kind that delight many, in a country like Portugal, where the food culture challenges us from north to south, and in summer snails arrive on platters, with plenty of oregano and a touch of bacon, for a rich flavour.

For that, someone has to gather them. And with this tradition in mind, the caracoleira was born - a small basket worn over the shoulder that doesn't let even the slowest snails escape once caught. Perhaps this year, we won't just be looking at the platters…

This caracoleira is the work of Algarve artisan Isidoro Ramos, from Paderne.

It is made from esparto, a native plant, which he himself watches grow in the fields and hills of the Algarve until it is ready to be pulled, between July and September.

Once pulled, the esparto is left in the sun to take on a golden tone, and is then soaked, to become softer and workable. It takes shape in braids - the empreita -which are then coiled, from base to top, and stitched together, using a thick needle and jute or sisal cord. With the same traditional technique Isidoro learned as a child from his grandmother and mother.

The caracoleira doesn't let the snails escape. Nor does it let go of the esparto of the Algarve hills, the hands that pulled it, or the technique that Isidoro's grandmother and mother taught him.

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