A very interesting thing about Perpignan is that it's Catalan despite being on the French side of the border. To add to that, it's North Catalan or Roussillon, and thus there are dishes here that you can't really find in Barcelona. Those snails above were a good example.
They are done in a perky tomato and wine sauce, and are still attached to the shell. That makes them a little hard to extract, requiring a toothpick and hands-on action like the way the Vietnamese do it. But the exposed section of the snail meat is seared, which gives it a slightly crispy texture, and a pleasantly greasy taste too. Still, it's a messy and slow affair, and perhaps why it's served more at festivals and family banquets rather than restaurants. This place serves it nonetheless (9 Rue de la République, 04-6834-7762); the restaurant was filled with families once the clock struck eight tonight.
Other local dishes that I snagged included boles de picolat meatballs that were served in a tomato sauce with white beans and pork. The meatballs were heavily garlicked, but the fries that it came with were just the way I like them: soggy and greasy, with the added bonus of being unsalted yet naturally sweet.
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