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Spitchcocked Eels

A dish of eels coated in egg and breadcrumbs, broiled until brown, served with melted butter and anchovy sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,485 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Spitchcocked Eels

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the eels

  1. Skin the eels.

  2. Split the eels down the belly.

  3. Remove the bone.

  4. Wash the eels.

  5. Cut the eels into pieces of 3-4 inches.

Make the butter and coat

  1. In a stewpan, melt the butter with minced parsley, thyme, mace, sage, and chopped shallot.

  2. Coat the eels in egg and breadcrumbs.

  3. Place the coated eels in the pan to set the coating.

Broil and serve

  1. Grease the grill with a bit of suet to prevent sticking.

  2. Broil the eels for a few minutes until both sides are light brown.

  3. Garnish the eels with crispy parsley.

  4. Serve with melted butter and anchovy sauce.

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. Thyme + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,485 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Thyme + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,476 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Parsley + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,445 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Eels
Main protein; the flesh becomes tender and flaky when cooked through.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, carrying the herbs and shallot flavour into the dish.
Egg
Binds the breadcrumb coating so it adheres to the eels and sets in the pan.
Breadcrumbs
Form a crisp coating that browns under the grill and protects the surface of the fish.
Shallot
Adds mild sweetness and aroma to the butter as it softens in the pan.

The step that matters

Broil the eels until light brown. Eel is fatty and the breadcrumb coating can scorch quickly under direct heat. Watch closely so the coating browns evenly and the flesh cooks through without drying out.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, parsley, thyme, sage, shallot, egg, anchovy):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Winter savoryfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, parsley, thyme, sage, shallot, egg, anchovy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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