Cook and Drink

Many years ago we were looking for a nice restaurant in Fréjus. It was our last evening in France before returning home and obviously we were looking for something special, something typical Provençal. The area of our hotel wasn’t very promising, so we were ready to settle for pizza until we saw a small restaurant with a very interesting menu. It offered Tisane de Romarin, Cailles et Escargots and many other exciting dishes we unfortunately forgot. We entered the restaurant and had a perfect evening.
Combining quails and snails isn’t the most obvious idea, but rest assured, it works beautifully, also thanks to the very intriguing green sauce. It took us some time to recreate it, but after a few attempts we think this is the right version.
The question remains why the two go together well. Is it about fat (quails leg) and no-fat (snail)? Because both are meaty and tender? Because both love the tarragon in the sauce?
Of course, we made a note of the name of the restaurant and of course, we lost it. A pity, although preparing this dish brings us back to a lovely evening in Fréjus.

Wine Pairing

Enjoy your Green Sauce with Quails and Snails with a glass of Chardonnay with a touch of oak. The wine must be dry, mineral and medium bodied. We enjoyed a glass of Bourgogne Couvent des Jacobins as produced by Louis Jadot. The wine partly matured in stainless steel tanks and partly in oak barrels. The result is a wine that has citrus and apple aromas in combination with oak and vanilla. Great with the freshness of the herbs and the richness of the sauce. It balances very well with both the quails and the snails.

What You Need

• 6 Quail Legs
• Butter
• 12 Snails (click here when you want to know which snail to buy)
• For the Green Sauce
  • 1 Bunch of Parsley
  • 1/4 Bunch of Tarragon
  • Chicken Stock
  • Cream
  • (optional) Beurre Manié or Potato Starch)
• Black Pepper

What You Do

Wash the snails with plenty of water. Set aside. Warm a heavy iron skillet, warm some chicken or quail stock in a pan and bring a pan with water to the boil. Set your oven to 60 °C or 140 °F.
Now it’s time to make the Green Sauce:
Blanch parsley and tarragon in boiling water for 30 seconds and cool immediately in ice water. Dry. Blender the herbs with some cold stock until you have a very smooth green liquid. Set your blender to turbo! Pass through a fine sieve and store the chlorophyll. It will remain stable for at least a day.
Quickly fry the legs in butter. Warm the snails in some chicken stock. When both are ready, transfer the legs and the snails to the warm oven. Add chicken stock to the pan. Stir. Add cream to the pan. Let reduce for 5-10 minutes or until you’re happy with the consistency. Add chlorophyll until you have the right colour and taste. Be very careful, if you overheat the sauce it will lose its vibrant green colour. Perhaps you need to thicken the sauce with Beurre Manié or Potato Starch. Add black pepper and taste. Serve the legs and the snails in the sauce. Enjoy with crusted bread.

PS

You could also use two quails. Remove the breasts and the legs. Use the remainder to make the stock you need for the sauce. To make the dish more refined, remove the main bone of the legs.