Cargols a la Llauna

Medium·35 min active + 40 min resting

Pyrenean roasted snails — land snails set open-side-up in a perforated metal tin (llauna), seasoned with garlic, paprika, and herbs, and roasted over coals or in the oven, eaten with aïoli.

Cargols a la llauna is a Catalan-Pyrenees delicacy beloved in Andorra, where snails are roasted in a tin over fire and dipped in aïoli or vinaigrette.

Pick a snail from the llauna and dip it in cool garlic aïoli — the flesh is firm and earthy, smoky from the coals, glossed with garlic-paprika oil. Bite: a clean, mineral, mushroomy bite, the herbs and paprika warming it, the aïoli rich and pungent. A slow, sociable starter eaten one by one with toothpicks and wine — the Pyrenean snail feast.

Purging the snails empties them so the flesh is clean. Roasting them open-side-up in a perforated tin lets the heat penetrate and the juices concentrate rather than boil away; the garlic-paprika oil bastes them. Aïoli's raw garlic and oil emulsion is the classic rich, pungent foil to the lean snail.

Variations

With a spicy vinaigrette instead of aïoli. With chorizo alongside (the classic mixed grill). With more chili. Cooked entirely in the oven. With a breadcrumb-herb topping. Served as a main with bread.

On the Palate

Where Cargols a la Llauna sits in the Andorran flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 4

How it's made

8 steps · 35 min active + 40 min waiting

1
10 min
Purge 800 g live land snails (fast them several days), then rinse very well.
Watch out
Fast the live snails several days before cooking so they purge clean — skip it and the flesh tastes gritty and bitter.
2
6 min
Arrange the snails open-side-up, packed tight, in a perforated metal tin.
Watch out
Pack them opening-up and tight together so the juices pool inside and concentrate instead of running out.
3
3 min
Season with salt, pepper, and a little paprika.
4
16 min
Roast over hot coals (or at 220°C) 15 min until the flesh sets and juices bubble.
Watch out
Roast till the flesh firms up and you can see the juices bubbling in the shells.
5
8 min
Meanwhile, pound 4 garlic cloves with salt and whisk in olive oil to make aïoli.
Watch out
Drizzle the oil into the pounded garlic slowly and keep beating till it turns into a thick pale cream — pour too fast and it splits.
6
6 min
Drizzle the snails with garlic-parsley oil and roast 5 min more.
7
2 min
Scatter with chopped parsley and thyme.
8
2 min
Serve hot with toothpicks and the aïoli for dipping.