Stewed Eels Wiggy's Way (No. 164)

The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's ... · Kitchiner, William · 1817
Source
The Cook's Oracle; and Housekeeper's Manual
Status
success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (16)
for maigre days
Instructions (12)
  1. Gut the eels, rub them with salt until the slime is cleaned off, wash them in several different waters, and divide them into pieces about four inches long.
  2. Optionally, after skinning the eels, dredge them with a little flour, wipe them dry, then egg and crumb them, and fry in drippings until brown. Lay them on a hair sieve to dry.
For non-maigre days
  1. Place the prepared eel pieces into a quart of good beef gravy (No. 329) that has been cooled.
  2. Set the pan over a slow fire and simmer very gently for about a quarter of an hour, depending on the size of the eels. Be careful not to overcook.
  3. Carefully remove the eels from the stew-pan with a fish-slice, ensuring not to tear their skin, and arrange them on a dish about two inches deep.
For maigre days
  1. After skinning the eels, throw the skins into salt and water.
  2. Wash the skins well.
  3. Put the skins into a stew-pan with a quart of water, two onions (each with two cloves stuck in), and one blade of mace.
  4. Boil for twenty minutes, then strain the liquid through a sieve into a basin.
  5. Thicken the sauce to about the consistency of cream by mixing in a little flour.
  6. Add two tablespoonfuls of port wine and one tablespoonful of mushroom catchup or cavice to the sauce.
  7. Stir the additions into the sauce by degrees, bring it to a boil, and then strain it over the fish through a sieve.
Original Text
Soles or Eels,181-* &c. &c. stewed Wiggy’s way.—(No. 164.) Take two pounds of fine silver181-† eels: the best are those that are rather more than a half-crown piece in circumference, quite fresh, full of life, and “as brisk as an eel:” such as have been kept out of water till they can scarce stir, are good for nothing: gut them, rub them with salt till the slime is cleaned from them, wash them in several different waters, and divide them into pieces about four inches long. Some cooks, after skinning them, dredge them with a little flour, wipe them dry, and then egg and crumb them, and fry[182] them in drippings till they are brown, and lay them to dry on a hair sieve. Have ready a quart of good beef gravy (No. 329); it must be cold when you put the eels into it: set them on a slow fire to simmer very gently for about a quarter of an hour, according to the size of the eels; watch them, that they are not done too much; take them carefully out of the stew-pan with a fish-slice, so as not to tear their coats, and lay them on a dish about two inches deep. Or, if for maigre days, when you have skinned your eels, throw the skins into salt and water; wash them well; then put them into a stew-pan with a quart of water, two onions, with two cloves stuck in each, and one blade of mace; let it boil twenty minutes, and strain it through a sieve into a basin. Make the sauce about as thick as cream, by mixing a little flour with it; put in also two table-spoonfuls of port wine, and one of mushroom catchup, or cavice: stir it into the sauce by degrees, give it a boil, and strain it to the fish through a sieve. N.B. If mushroom sauce (Nos. 225, 305, or 333), or white sauce (No. 364—2), be used instead of beef gravy, this will be one of the most relishing maigre dishes we know. Obs. To kill eels instantly, without the horrid torture of cutting and skinning them alive, pierce the spinal marrow, close to the back part of the skull, with a sharp-pointed skewer: if this be done in the right place, all motion will instantly cease. The humane executioner does certain criminals the favour to hang them before he breaks them on the wheel.
Notes
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