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Eel Pie

A savory pie made with eels, pepper, sea salt, white broth gravy, and a light pastry crust.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Eel Pie

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Skim and trim the eels, removing heads, tails, and fins.

  2. Stew the trimmings in white broth to make gravy.

Assemble and bake

  1. Cut the eels into 3-inch pieces and season with pepper and coarse sea salt.

  2. Add ½ cup of the gravy to the eels and cover with the pastry.

  3. Bake for 1 hour at 350°F (175°C).

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

What each ingredient does

Eels
Form the main filling, providing the body and rich flavour of the pie.
Light pastry
Forms a covering crust that seals in moisture and browns in the oven.
White broth
Makes the gravy that keeps the filling moist during baking.

The step that matters

Adding the gravy before covering with pastry. Enough liquid must surround the eels so they stay moist as the pastry bakes; without it the filling can dry out and the crust can scorch before the fish is cooked through.

“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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