501. EELS, SPITCHCOCKED.

The modern cook · Charles Elmé Francatelli · 1846
Source
The modern cook
Status
success · extracted 11 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (15)
sauces to serve with
Instructions (14)
  1. Kill the eels by inserting the point of a sharp instrument into the spine at the back of the head, to the depth of an inch.
  2. Hold the eel with a cloth in the left hand and detach the skin just below the gills with a small knife.
  3. Once enough skin is loosened, hold the head firmly with the left hand and slide the skin off with a cloth in the right hand.
  4. Cut off the head, make an incision about two inches in length at the vent and the same at the neck.
  5. Draw the gut, trim away the fins, wash and thoroughly cleanse each fish.
  6. Wipe the eels with a cloth, sprinkle them with salt, and let them lie on a dish for an hour.
  7. Lay each eel on its back on the table and open it from one extremity to the other.
  8. Detach and remove the back-bone.
  9. Cut the eel into several pieces about three inches long.
  10. Season the pieces with pepper and salt, and sprinkle with chopped parsley and shallot.
  11. Dip each piece of eel separately in beaten egg, and then in fine bread crumbs.
  12. Place the prepared eels on a dish in the larder until twenty minutes before serving.
  13. Fry the eels until they are a fine color.
  14. Dish them up with fried parsley around them and send to table.
Original Text
501. EELS, SPITCHCOCKED. As eels,* when brought into the kitchen, are frequently alive, it is first necessary to kill them: this, from their tenacity of life, is found in many not easy to accomplish: it is, however, merely necessary to insert the point of any sharp instrument into the spine at the back of the head, to the depth of an inch, and the eel will become perfectly motionless. Then take a firm hold of the eel with a cloth in the left hand, and with the right hand proceed to detach the skin just below the gills with the point of a small knife; when there is a sufficient quantity of skin loosened, so as to gain a purchase, hold the head firmly with the left hand, and with a cloth in the right, force the skin to slide off the fish. Then cut off the head, make an incision about two inches in length at the vent, and the same at the neck, draw the gut, &c., trim away the fins, wash and thoroughly cleanse each fish; wipe them with a cloth, and then, after sprinkling them with salt, let them lie on a dish for an hour or so, previously to dressing them. After having trimmed the eels, lay each on its back in a straight line on the table, and with a knife, open it from one extremity to the other; detach the back-bone, and take it out; then cut the eel into several pieces about three inches long, season them with pepper and salt, and sprinkle them over with chopped parsley and shallot; dip each piece of eel separately in some batter egg, and afterward in some fine bread crumbs. Place the eels thus prepared on a dish in the larder, until within twenty minutes of dinner time; then proceed to fry them of a fine colour, and dish them up with fried parsley round them, and send to table. Either of the following may be served in a sauce-boat with spitchcocked eels:—Dutch, Italienne, Venitienne, Poivrade, Piquante, Tartare, Tomata, or Gasconne sauce. * There are four distinct sorts of eels, the smig, the broad-nosed, the grig, and the sharp-nosed; the latter is the kind generally known. The London markets are supplied principally from Holland; Thames eels are however in high repute, being caught in a running stream, their skin is brighter and more silvery; they are preferable, too, from their greater sweetness, to the Dutch eels
Notes
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