Eel meat again: how to eat it

The meat of the eel has a distinctive and beautifully clean flavour. And eels make easy eating, because they have just one bone running down the middle, so they're not finicky things.

On the preparation side, most recipes call for the creature to be skinned. If your eel is from a fishmonger, you can get him to undertake this. Those with a slightly more have-a-go spirit can tackle DIY skinning themselves by cutting the head off, and starting the process by rolling the skin down a little way. After this slightly tricky start, the skin can be pulled down fairly easily, to come off in one piece.

Eel is quite rich, because its fat content is pretty high. In my view, the best methods of cooking are those that get some of the fat out.

Grilled eel is particularly delicious. Some of the most beautiful fish I've ever had in my life was some eels we caught on the river Test, rolled in salt and pepper and grilled over an open fire. Simply sensational.

Every culture, right across to China and Japan, has its eel dishes and stews. In continental Europe these are more elaborate than our traditional British standards such as jellied eels, eels in their liquor, or (around the river Severn) elvers fried in bacon fat and egg.

A classic Italian method (anguilla alla Luciana) is to put pieces of eel in a skewer with bay leaves and simply roast it in the oven. Spain has its angulas al pil-pil, made with elvers.

The French, needless to say, push the boat out with matelote d'anguille, colliers d'anguille vert-pres, and the paradisal-sounding pudding souffle d'Anguille de riviere.

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