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Conger Eel, Boiled

A boiled conger eel seasoned with salt, pepper, vinegar, herbs, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Conger Eel, Boiled

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Tie the conger eel with string.

Boil

  1. Place it in a stewpan and cover with boiling water.

  2. Add salt, pepper, vinegar, savory herbs, and butter.

  3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes.

Serve

  1. Drain the eel and serve on a hot napkin.

  2. Serve melted butter alongside.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Conger eel
Is the main protein, cooked gently in simmering liquid until tender and flaky.
Vinegar
Adds acidity to the cooking liquid, brightening the mild flavour of the fish.
Butter or dripping
Adds richness and fat, giving the eel a smooth, savoury finish when served melted.

The step that matters

Simmering gently for 30 minutes. A rolling boil can break up the delicate flesh of the eel and make it tough or ragged. Keeping the liquid at a gentle simmer cooks the fish evenly while it stays intact.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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