Eel Recipe
Eel in Red Wine & Tomato

This eel recipe uses the crockpot although you could casserole in the oven if you prefer. Eel can be quite dry, so the longer cooking methods are better.

The tail of the eel is quite bony, so I would only use it for stock. The middle cuts are best and you skin before cooking.

Some people really do skin them alive - personally, I couldn't. What I do is, make an incision in the skin of the dead fish ;-) and then dip my fingers in salt - it gives you a little more 'grip' - then I pull the skin away.

You can use this method to skin any fish before cooking - it is easier to remove after cooking, but you may prefer not to have the skin at all.

Eel Recipe - cooked in tomato sauce

Nutritional Facts: Eel is an excellent source of high-quality protein and omega-3 fatty acids, which are beneficial for heart health. It also contains vitamins A, B12, and D

You will most likely buy your eel already cut into pieces - you want the middle cuts as they will be less bony in proportion to the flesh. They may be already skinned, but you can ask your fishmonger to do that for you if they're not. 

It used to be so cheap - a very staple part of the working class diet in the UK, jellied eels were a huge product in London and considered a delicacy. Eels are now comparatively expensive - I just did a little search and found them advertised at £32 a kilo - WOW! Compare that to boneless haddock at £19 a kilo and boneless coley at £9 a kilo and you'll see how this once incredibly cheap product has escalated due to scarcity. They were overfished - they were plentiful and could be caught in most bodies of water, including canals and town rivers. This is most probably the reason they are now so scarce  - people who could walk to the nearest river could get a free meal. 

There's an interesting article here about eel farming - explaining how there are programmes to ensure that some eels grow to maturity to grow by people having to return 40% of the elvers they catch further up the river course.  

Eel Recipe - in tomato sauce

• 8 pieces of eel - 3 to 4 inches each
• 2 tbspns lemon juice
• 2 tbspns vegetable oil
• 1 glass red wine
• 1 large onion - peeled and chopped
• 1 pack passata or can of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbspns fresh parsley
• Ground black pepper to taste

1. Start by marinating the eel: Cut the eel into 3 to 4-inch pieces. Place them in a dish and pour over the lemon juice, vegetable oil, and red wine. Add the chopped onions and fresh parsley, ensuring the eel pieces are fully coated. Let it marinate for at least an hour. Pop into the refrigerator - you could leave it several hours if you want, but they will need at least one hour. 

2. Preparing the crockpot: Set your slow cooker to Low. Transfer the marinated eel and all the marinade ingredients into the slow cooker. Add the passata or chopped tomatoes and some ground black pepper to taste.

3. Cooking: Cook on Low for 4 to 6 hours, allowing the eel to become tender and absorb the rich flavors.

4. Serving: Serve the eel hot with crusty bread to mop up the delicious tomato sauce. Garnish with additional fresh parsley if desired.

I would suggest one or two pieces of eel per portion depending on appetite. Certainly, most children would only manage one piece and adults would manage two. 

If you catch European eels, then you're supposed to return them to the river alive. You can buy eels, but they're farmed or taken from large lakes under a licence. They don't breed in captivity, so what happens is, elvers (young eels) are caught and then placed in large tanks where they grow into eating size. It's a strange business...  they don't breed in captivity as they (mostly) lack reproductive organs.  They breed in the Sargasso sea area and then migrate, taking around three years to arrive in the UK where they live until 8 to 18 years and then return to the Sargasso sea to breed.  In the UK (and other countries) you require a license to fish for eel. 

There are two types of eel, Conger and European and both are endangered. They are under conservation and there are strict guidelines as to how they are managed. In the UK, there are around 900 licensed eel fishing licences but quite a bit of poaching goes on! They breed once only before they die, so effectively any eels you catch are most likely juvenile and have not had a chance to spawn. The Cornish Fishing website has a lot of interesting information about sustainability. 

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