Of preparations, ccl sjntchcocked and grilled was once
very popular ; for this the eel was skinned, gutted, and
boned, covered with spice, herbs, egged and crumbed✪ Eel Spitchcocked and Grilled, and
grilled on a gridiron. The verb ‘ to spitchcock,’ of which
the origin is not known, does not include frying, but only
grilling. The Fi’ench cooks call spitchcocking the English
way of di’essing eel. In some recipes the skin is left on the
fish, but in others its removal is directed, as it is apt to
offend delicate stomachs. Variations of spitchcocking are
Anguille d la Broclie and d la Ste. M&neliould.
Owing to its freedom from spinous bones, its fine flavour,
and its universal distribution, eel is the most . popular of
sweet- water fishes ; accordingly, it has been honoured with
a great many modes of cooking. Stexving is perhaps the
most frequently employed ; or it is steivcd, and then critmbed
and fried ; or it is baked in the oven ; or it may be boiled
(French d la mimite), and eaten with brown butter, Dutch
sauce, or poivrade. Plain-frying is the most rapid process
of preparation. The Coxnpoxind Matelote of Eel deserves
some notice, because it offers some analogy to the Boidlle
abaisse in having carp, eel, tench, and perch for ingredients ;
but it is saturated with garlic and onions, and to be
‘ moistened ’ with two bottles of Narbonne wine✪ Compound Matelote of Eel. The
recipe is recorded and formulated by Vuillemot, the col-
laborator of Dumas on the Dictionary, and, like much of
what we have seen of his cookery, is essentially coarse ;
but it was originally suggested by that gastro-philistine
writer, Grimod de la Eeyniere, and this makes us wonder
how a hard-headed business man could lend himself to
perpetrate it. It shows the same waste of wine as the
faisan Lxicullus, and this makes it impracticable on the
one, and unsesthetical on the other, hand. Dumas, in
wholesome fear of small bones, advised the matelote to be
made of eeZonly, with soft and hard roe of carp. A number
of variations of the matelote do not much alter its principal
554
THE SPIRIT OF COOKERY
features. An Accolade of Eels on the Sjnt used to be put
every Saturday upon tlie table of Anne of Austria, Queen of
Louis XIII., and mother of Louis XIV. Eel honed, stuffed,
and steioed gives an opportunity for exhibiting the qualities
of tvMting for the production of forcemeat from fish. This
form may also be eaten cold in aspic ; when the slices are
arranged in a turret-like structure the dish is called Bastion
d Angtoille. A ragout with steioed eel and other ingredients
makes a good pasty.
Carp lives in rivers and ponds in South Europe. It was
naturalized in England hy Peter Marshall in 1514, in Den-
mark by Peter Oxe in 15G0, and a few years later in Sweden
and Holland. Greek and Eoman writers mention it as a
fish of secondary quality. It is reported that very heavy
carps were taken in the Phone and the Oder, but these
reports are as little substantiated as those about the carps of
King Francis I. in the ponds of Fontainebleau. The carp is
so proliferous that Dr. Petit could count 342,000 eggs in a
female of eighteen inches in length ; a carp weighing 9 lb.
contained 621,600 eggs. Of this roe of carp the Oriental
Jews, who are forbidden to eat the caviar from sturgeon,
make a mock caviar as a substitute for the real.
Page 349 · 2 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1895. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Of preparations, eel spitchcocked and grilled was once very popular ; for this the eel was skinned, gutted, and boned, covered with spice, herbs, egged and crumbed, and grilled on a gridiron. The verb ‘ to spitchcock,’ of which the origin is not known, does not include frying, but only grilling. The Fi’ench cooks call spitchcocking the English way of di’essing eel. In some recipes the skin is left on the fish, but in others its removal is directed, as it is apt to offend delicate stomachs. Variations of spitchcocking are Anguille à la Broche and à la Sainte-Ménéhould.
Owing to its freedom from spinous bones, its fine flavour, and its universal distribution, eel is the most popular of sweet-water fishes ; accordingly, it has been honoured with a great many modes of cooking. Stexving is perhaps the most frequently employed ; or it is stewed, and then crumbed and fried ; or it is baked in the oven ; or it may be boiled (French à la minutée), and eaten with brown butter, Dutch sauce, or poivrade. Plain-frying is the most rapid process of preparation. TThe Compound Matelote of Eel deserves some notice, because it offers some analogy to the Bouillie abaissée in having carp, eel, tench, and perch for ingredients ; but it is saturated with garlic and onions, and to be ‘ moistened ’ with two bottles of Narbonne wine. The recipe is recorded and formulated by Vuillemot, the collaborator of Dumas on the Dictionary, and, like much of what we have seen of his cookery, is essentially coarse ; but it was originally suggested by that gastro-philistine writer, Grimod de la Eeyniere, and this makes us wonder how a hard-headed business man could lend himself to perpetrate it. It shows the same waste of wine as the faisan Lucullus, and this makes it impracticable on the one, and unæsthetical on the other, hand. Dumas, in wholesome fear of small bones, advised the matelote to be made of eel only, with soft and hard roe of carp. A number of variations of the matelote do not much alter its principal
features. An Accolade of Eels on the Spit used to be put every Saturday upon the table of Anne of Austria, Queen of Louis XIII., and mother of Louis XIV. Eel boned, stuffed, and stewed gives an opportunity for exhibiting the qualities of working for the production of forcemeat from fish. This form may also be eaten cold in aspic; when the slices are arranged in a turret-like structure the dish is called Bastion d'Anguille. A ragout with steioed eel and other ingredients makes a good pasty.
Carp lives in rivers and ponds in South Europe. It was naturalized in England by Peter Marshall in 1514, in Denmark by Peter Oxe in 1560, and a few years later in Sweden and Holland. Greek and Roman writers mention it as a fish of secondary quality. It is reported that very heavy carps were taken in the Rhone and the Oder, but these reports are as little substantiated as those about the carps of King Francis I. in the ponds of Fontainebleau. The carp is so proliferous that Dr. Petit could count 342,000 eggs in a female of eighteen inches in length ; a carp weighing 9 lb. contained 621,600 eggs. Of this roe of carp the Oriental Jews, who are forbidden to eat the caviar from sturgeon, make a mock caviar as a substitute for the real.
Records on this page
Eel Spitchcocked and GrilledCompound Matelote of Eel