Eels

An Eel is a fish shaped like a snake, with gray, black or olive skin.

During the daytime, it hides in mud. At night, it feeds on small fish, shellfish, insects, and crustaceans.

Baby Eels are called Elvers. They are caught in the spring, when they will swim all the way up through the ocean from the Sargosso sea into the Severn River, in the West Country of England. Many are caught to be sold live for restocking in other parts of the world.

Eels have flaky, mild-tasting flesh that doesn't taste or smell fishy.

The Japanese filet and debone Eel, then grill it and serve with rice and a sauce. They never serve it raw. When grilled like this, it is called "kabayaki."

"Anguilla japonica" is the species of Eel that lives in Asian lakes and rivers. It will grow up to 2 feet (60 cm) long. To skin Eel before cooking, make an incision in the skin all the way around at the back of the head. Make a long cut lengthwise, which you will use for gutting them, and then start to work the skin loose with the tip of a knife. Then grasp firmly and pull off. Some use pliers to grab the skin with.

Some people like Eel skin when it is cooked so that it gets crispy.
"Large fish ponds were maintained, and the cruelty of Vellius Pollis who fed his lampreys on the bodies of slaves he caused to be slain is well known. This cruelty Domitian disapproved of but should have punished." -- From: Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in The Physiology of Taste, Section IV. THE TURKEY, Project Gutenberg, Apr 2004. First published Dec 1825. [Brillat-Savarin is referring to a man named "Vedius Pollio", mentioned in Pliny the Elder's, Natural History Chapter 9, 39.77. Vedius was a wealthy horse-owner who also owned many slaves, and a friend of the Emperor Augustus. The lampreys were actually electric Eels.]

"The fat Canadian eels will be barging in for the holidays. Look for eels in the fish stores the week before Christmas. Canadian Christmas eels are trapped along the St. Lawrence and the Richelieu Rivers in the Province of Quebec and dumped into especially built barges with underwater comfortably berthed [Ed.: sic] during their fifteen-day journey on to New York." -- Paddleford, Clementine (1898 - 1967). Food Flashes Column. Gourmet Magazine. December 1945.

"Unagi" is the Japanese word for freshwater Eel.

The Roman word, "Muraena", referred to either a Moray or Lamprey Eel.

Parker Bowles, Tom. Slippery customers, eels... unless, of course, you give them a good smoking first (ideally in Somerset). London: Daily Mail. 5 February 2011

Also called:

Nitsume Sauce, Spitchcock

Anchovy, Fish, Perch, Pink Fish, Poutine, White Fish