When this is softened, in go the snails along with a handful of breadcrumbs from a local gros tourte loaf, also some parsley, chives, and garlic. As the mixture simmers, white wine is added from time to time as well as a generous tot of Michel's secret ingredient. Secret it may be but a sneak tasting suggests that it owes much to Pineau and herbs. Upstairs, the volunteer servers busy around the hall, filled with long trestle tables. A few gourmets manage the full meal but most are satisfied with gargantuan helpings of snails as a main dish.
Snails are full of goodness.
They live on greenery, dandelions, and cabbage. Certainly, the Romans introduced snails to France and medieval monasteries and convents had snail farms. Whatever the truth may be, the festival is a real rural French occasion - run by volunteers whose only reward is an annual reunion, usually a bus trip and a splendid lunch. But not snails. They've seen enough of them.