Eel

Maccapacca

Maccapacca

Maccapacca

Tea Drinker
Don
Joined
13 Apr 2010
Posts
18,472
Location
Sunny Sussex
So after a bit of fishing I came away with a decent sized eel. I should have put it back as they are pretty rare and have been through a great deal to get to this size however thr hook wasn't coming out without killing it.

WzYz2xk.jpg


I've had smoked eel before so I'm looking to smoke this one. I've got a hot smoker aka a bbq and bread bin.

Firstly for tonight I've salted it and put it in the fridge. Apparently salting helps remove the slime and draws out moisture.

Wi322Hi.jpg
 
Ewwwww.


I remember first arriving in the UK, staying with my cousin in Hackney. He lived above a proper old school shop which sold jellied eel. It looked manky as hell, would never even consider tasting an eel.

Is it nice? Is it a proper delicacy or more of a "this is all we could get so this is what we're going to eat" sort of thing?

It's never appealed to me at all, but I'm curious about how this became a food staple.
 
Diddums said:
Ewwwww.


I remember first arriving in the UK, staying with my cousin in Hackney. He lived above a proper old school shop which sold jellied eel. It looked manky as hell, would never even consider tasting an eel.

Is it nice? Is it a proper delicacy or more of a "this is all we could get so this is what we're going to eat" sort of thing?

It's never appealed to me at all, but I'm curious about how this became a food staple.
Click to expand...

Jellied eel is amazing!
 
Looks good :)

Decent eel is quite different from jellied eel btw - I wouldn't let that horror stop you from trying proper eel sometime.
 
I'd describe it having a more meaty taste and texture to it than most fish, though it's not like eating beef or anything obviously.
 
Diddums said:
Ewwwww.


I remember first arriving in the UK, staying with my cousin in Hackney. He lived above a proper old school shop which sold jellied eel. It looked manky as hell, would never even consider tasting an eel.

Is it nice? Is it a proper delicacy or more of a "this is all we could get so this is what we're going to eat" sort of thing?

It's never appealed to me at all, but I'm curious about how this became a food staple.
Click to expand...

Eels became a staple food around the 1800's. Fresh fish couldn't just be driven up to london by truck as it can today and the Thames held no stock at all as it still had serious pollution problems. Eels are very hardy when it comes to pollution and in the East End around the dock areas, the populations soared and became easy to catch in hundreds for almost anyone. Thereby it found its way on to the dinner table more than any other fish. The other money saver of grinding up the crappy bits of meat to fill pies with is how the popular pie, mash and jellied eel thing started.
 
Last edited:
I've caught loads of eels on the Seven but the slime puts me off eating them. Shame really as I would like to try them.
 
robfosters said:
Eels became a staple food around the 1800's. Fresh fish couldn't just be driven up to london by truck as it can today and the Thames held no stock at all as it still had serious pollution problems. Eels are very hardy when it comes to pollution and in the East End around the dock areas, the populations soared and became easy to catch in hundreds for almost anyone. Thereby it found its way on to the dinner table more than any other fish. The other money saver of grinding up the crappy bits of meat to fill pies with is how the popular pie, mash and jellied eel thing started.
Click to expand...

Oh great, thanks for taking the time to explain that, makes perfect sense. I love learning little things like this.

Macca that looks gross, but then I'm not a seafoos fan at all, last time I had seafood was probably two or three months ago.

I like my food to go moo before I eat it :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom