Angnille en Matelote (Matelote of Eels)

Ingredients

• two good-sized eels
• two ounces of butter
• a dozen and a half small button onions
• some parsley
• some thyme
• some bayleaf
• some cloves
• whole pepper
• salt
• sufficient stock and claret in equal quantities
• a teaspoonful of mushroom catsup
• half an ounce of anchovy butter
• the juice of half a lemon

Method

1. 1

   Skin and cleanse eels, cut into three-inch lengths.

2. 2

   Rub a saucepan with garlic, melt butter, and add onions.

3. 3

   Toss until golden, then add eel pieces, parsley, thyme, bayleaf, cloves, pepper, and salt.

4. 4

   Add stock and claret to cover fish, boil for 20 minutes.

5. 5

   Strain liquor, finish cooking onions in it, thicken with arrowroot, add lemon juice, mushroom catsup, anchovy butter, and seasonings.

6. 6

   Serve eel with sauce and garnish with onions and mushrooms.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Little French dinners (1898) by Eveleen De Rivaz, page 39. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Angnille en Matelote (Matelote of Eels). — Skin and cleanse two good-sized eels and cut them into three inch lengths. Rub a saucepan slightly with garlic, melt in it two ounces of butter, and add a dozen and a half small button onions, peeled and blanched ; toss them about till they are of a golden colour, then put in the pieces of eel with some parsley, thyme, bayleaf, cloves, whole pepper and salt, and add sufficient stock and claret in equal quantities to well-cover the fish. Bring the whole to the boil and cook over a brisk fire for about twenty minutes ; when the pieces of eel are quite tender, strain off nearly all the liquor into a small clean saucepan and finish cooking the onions in it, taking care to keep the fish hot in the meantime. Then take out the onions, free the liquor from all fat, and thicken it with some arrowroot ; bring to the boil, add the juice of half a lemon, a teaspoonful of mush- room catsup, half an ounce of anchovy butter

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.