Caragols a la llauna

Caragols a la llauna (or cargols a la llauna in certain dialects, or cargolada in Northern Catalonia) is a delicacy of Catalan cuisine. It is a simple dish of land snails cooked on a grill, or in a llauna (tin pan) in an oven.^[1] The dish is particularly favored in Terres de Lleida, where it has been promoted since 1980 by L'Aplec del Caragol, and in the Pyrenees.

Caragols prepared in a metal pan

Background

In the 1835 cookbook La cuynera catalana, there are two early recipes for snails with onion and rice.^[2] The recipes are meatless, as they were once considered suitable for consumption during Lent.^[2] The name petarrellada is sometimes used as a synonym for caragols a la llauna, although the term refers more specifically to the traditional method of roasting snails over a direct fire.^[2]

Caragols are popular at the annual Aplec del Caragol festival in Lleida, where in 2024 over 14 tons were consumed in three days.^[3] They are also eaten in the springtime at Fontcoberta and in the Balearic Islands.^[2]

Preparation

Caragols are often prepared by not feeding them for a week so that they internally self-cleanse, repeatedly washing them, and then boiling them.^[4] Alternately, they can be left unboiled for what gourmands believe to be a better taste.^[2] They are subsequently cooked in a metal tin, either baked in an oven or cooked over a fire.^[2]

In Girona the local version involves chopped bacon being cooked inside the shell, whle in Northern Catalonia they are cooked with melted lard.^[2]

They are often served with bread and dipping sauces like aioli or vinaigrette, and can be eaten by hand with a toothpick or fork to extract the meat from the shell.^[5] The most common snail used in preparation of caragols a la llauna is the garden snail, known locally as bover.^[5]