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Collared Eels

Collared eels are seasoned, rolled, simmered in stock, and served with a clear jelly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Collared Eels

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the eels

  1. Lay the eels flat and season with parsley, eschalot, pepper, salt, beaten spices, and mushroom powder.

  2. Roll the eels tightly and bind with tape.

  3. Place in a stewpan with veal stock, lemon pickle, and white wine.

  4. Simmer until cooked through.

  5. Remove from heat and place on a dish.

Make the jelly

  1. Skim fat from the cooking liquid, season with salt, and clear it with the eggs.

  2. Strain through a tamis cloth and boil down until it forms a strong jelly.

  3. Pour the jelly into a basin and let it cool.

Finish and serve

  1. Once cooled, remove the tape, trim the ends, and wipe the eels dry.

  2. Serve with the jelly around the eels, topped with pickled barberries and lemon slices.

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. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

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

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

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

  4. Mushroom + white winetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,765 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

  5. Lemon + white winetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,832 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

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

What each ingredient does

Eels
Form the main body of the dish, becoming tender as they simmer through.
Veal stock
Supplies the liquid that cooks the eels and, reduced, becomes the savoury jelly.
Eggs
Clarify the cooking liquid, collecting impurities so the jelly turns clear.
Lemon pickle
Adds sharp, acidic flavour that cuts the richness of the eels and stock.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma to the cooking liquid, deepening the flavour of the jelly.

The step that matters

Boiling down the jelly. The liquid must reduce until it sets firmly when cool. Too little reduction leaves a loose jelly that will not hold around the eels, while careful skimming and clarifying keep it clear and free of fat.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, mushroom, veal, lemon, white wine, egg):

  1. Thymefits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Marjoramfits about as well
  4. Tarragonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, mushroom, veal, lemon, white wine, egg. 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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