Cargolade Catalane.

In Fitou and all over Languedoc-Roussillon, there survives a well-founded culinary tradition from time immemorial, that of the Cargolade, made with snails from the scrublands. In this corner of the Aude region, the tradition was that in the first few sunny days, everybody went into the countryside to taste the "beast of the country" : the "little grey".
 

Here is Dédé's recipe:

Collect snails from low walls or even by the side of the road after it rains and put them into a wooden box without food for 15 days. These are not yet to be eaten as food, any more than you would eat breadcrumbs or "frigoulette", a local thyme variant, by themselves.
When it comes time for "degustation" or tasting, light a fire, preferably made with vine stocks to get good embers. While you wait, clean the snails and take off their caps and place them on an adapted grill. If, by chance, the snails "wake up", sprinkle them with salt (an extreme method).
Then put the whole thing (grill and snails) onto the bed of live but not flaming embers.
On each of the snails, put drops of melted bacon fat and sprinkle them with a mixture of salt and pepper. When no more slime is visible on the snails, this is a sign that they are cooked, and you can take them off the fire.
The snails can be eaten with a good aioli spread on a slice of proper country bread, along with a local Fitou red wine of your choice.

Traduction Janet Lee Clark.

"Lou Courtal des Vidal "
13 rue des Courtals - 11510 Fitou
Tel. : (33) 4 68 45 62 58