Eel Pie is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic dish of skinned eel pieces that are baked on a base of fish forcemeat, and covered with pastry; when cooked the pie is filled with hot bechamel sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Eel Pie.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from the redoubtable Mrs Beeton's 1861 volume Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, the classic Victorian cookbook.
Original Recipe
253. INGREDIENTS.—1 lb. of eels, a little chopped parsley, 1 shalot; grated nutmeg; pepper and salt to taste; the juice of 1/2 a lemon, small quantity of forcemeat, 1/4 pint of béchamel (see Sauces); puff paste.
Mode.—Skin and wash the eels, cut them into pieces 2 inches long, and line the bottom of the pie-dish with forcemeat. Put in the eels, and sprinkle them with the parsley, shalots, nutmeg, seasoning, and lemon-juice, and cover with puff-paste. Bake for 1 hour, or rather more; make the béchamel hot, and pour it into the pie.
Time.—Rather more than 1 hour.
Seasonable from August to March.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
450g eels
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
freshly-grated nutmeg, to taste
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon
100g fish forcemeat
150ml béchamel sauce
200g puff pastry
Method:
Begin by preparing the eels. To skin and gut, hold it down by the head on a solid work surface with a towel (an eel is very slippery). With a sharp knife, make an incision around the neck, just below the head. The thick filmy skin will separate. Grip the skin with a pair of pliers, and pull it down the length of the eel to the tail and cut it off. Make a slit down the length of the stomach and pull out the innards. Rinse the eel well under cold running water.
Cut the eels into pieces 5cm long then line the base of your pie dish with the forcemeat. Arrange the eels on top then scatter over the parsley and shallot. Season with the nutmeg, salt and black pepper then sprinkle over the lemon juice.
Cover with the puff pastry then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for 1 hour. Heat the béchamel sauce in a pan, make a hole in the top of the pie then pour in the sauce and serve.
