One of my all-time favourite cookery writers is Edouard de Pomiane. Born in 1875, He was a dietician, amateur gourmand, and academic at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, and approached food with a simple enthusiasm that I find, even now, refreshing and inspirational.
His food was of the French Country school- those time honoured dishes that you will encounter on driving holidays across France, and I wholeheartedly recommend his two better-known books: Cooking in 10 minutes and Cooking with Pomiane. They may well be out of print, but you will be able to buy them from sites such as Amazon, and abebooks.co.uk. Here's his recipe for "Snails":
Buy a dozen snails from a conscientious tradesman, that is to say, a man who will use good butter for stuffing his snails. Arrange the twelve snails on a large fireproof dish. It is not as easy as it sounds. The opening of the shell must face upwards. Otherwise as soon as the butter melts it runs out of the shell and the snail becomes dry and tough. When you have arranged the shells properly, pour a little water into the dish. Put the dish on the fire for three or four minutes, just long enough to warm it. Then put it under the grill. In five to six minutes the butter has melted and the snails are hot. Eat them as long as they burn your fingers.
Isn't that marvellous?
