The Epicure's Almanac or Diary of Good Living
May 17th : COLLARED EELS
The march of humanity has taught modern cooks how to avoid putting these fish to unnecessary torture.
A three-pronged iron fork, inserted close to the back of the head, will penetrate the spinal marrow, and deprive them at once of life and motion ; this done, skin the fish, cut off the heads and tails, take out the bones, and press the flesh quite flat with a wooden trencher.
Put the bones, heads and tails, into a saucepan half filled with water, add a tea-spoonful of salt, enough Cayenne to cover a sixpence, half a dozen cloves, a tea-spoonful of powdered mace, and a bay leaf ; let this stew for an hour and a half.
Meantime take a dozen sage leaves and reduce them to powder, mix these with half a grated nutmeg , and a spoonful of salt ; rub the fish well over with this powder both inside and out, cut them into lengths of about three inches, place them close together, and tie them tightly up in a coarse open cloth, securing the top and bottom.
When the stew has been on long enough, take out the bones and put in the fish, let them simmer in the liquor till perfectly tender, then take them out, boil up the liquor again, strain it through a sieve, and pour it quite hot over the eels, placed in a deep dish, and divested of the cloth.