Eel au Vert à la Flamande

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch (30 cm) nonreactive sauté pan with lid
• •Flexible fish knife and washable cutting board
• •Shallow 1.5-liter (1.6-quart) serving bowl
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare eel and herbs

   Ask the fishmonger to gut and skin the eels, but leave the backbone in; the source cooks them as cross-cut pieces, and the bone helps the tender flesh hold together. At home, rinse the cavity briefly, inspect for any remaining skin or fin, then dry the eel thoroughly and cut it into 2-inch (5 cm) lengths. Pick, wash, and dry the herbs, but do not chop them until the beer has begun its first cooking period. Wet eel spits in butter and refuses to raidir cleanly.

   Eel blood must never be tasted raw. Keep the fish cold, wash the board and knife after preparation, and cook every piece through.
2. 2

   Raidir in butter

   Melt the butter in a wide nonreactive sauté pan over medium heat. When its foam settles, arrange the eel in one uncrowded layer and turn the pieces gently for 2 to 3 minutes, just until their surfaces become opaque and slightly firm. This is raidir, not browning: you are setting the flesh and coating it in butter so it survives the simmer. If the butter begins to color, lower the heat at once.

3. 3

   Moisten with beer

   Pour in the beer, add the salt and white pepper, and bring the liquor just to a gentle simmer. Partially cover and cook for exactly 10 minutes, turning the eel once with a spoon rather than tongs. Keep the liquid at a quiet tremble; a hard boil breaks the fish and drives the beer toward bitterness. If the pan is reducing aggressively before the 10 minutes are up, add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) water and lower the heat.

4. 4

   Add herbs raw

   Combine the roughly chopped sorrel, parsley, chervil, tarragon, and pimprenelle, then fold them raw into the pan. They should look almost excessive. That abundance is the vert in the dish, and it collapses quickly around the eel. Return the liquid to a gentle simmer and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, uncovered, nudging the pieces rather than stirring vigorously. The herbs will deepen from bright green toward olive, and the sorrel will melt into the liquor. The eel is ready when it yields easily beside the backbone and reaches 145°F (63°C) at its thickest point.

5. 5

   Bind only if needed

   Lift the pan from the heat and examine the liquor before reaching for the fécule. If it already gives the back of a spoon a light, glossy coat, add nothing; cold will finish the thickening. If it runs like beer, stir the fécule with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) cold water until completely smooth, return the pan to the gentlest heat, and fold in half the slurry. Let it tremble for 20 seconds before deciding whether it needs the rest. If the sauce turns gluey, stop. Ça se rattrape: take the pan off the heat and fold in cold water 1 teaspoon at a time until the sauce flows lightly again. Do not boil it hard after binding, because prolonged heat weakens potato starch.

6. 6

   Chill very cold

   Transfer the eel, herbs, and every drop of sauce to a shallow serving bowl, keeping the pieces intact. Let the bowl stand uncovered only until it stops giving off active heat, no more than 20 minutes, then refrigerate it. Once cold, cover and chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. The sauce should settle around the eel and cling without setting into a firm jelly.

7. 7

   Serve from the bowl

   Taste the sauce straight from the cold and correct the salt if needed, because cold softens seasoning. Bring the bowl directly from the refrigerator and serve the eel very cold with small forks, bread for the herb-dark sauce, and a warning that the central bones remain. No extra flourish is needed. Cooking well is not cooking fancy. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Buy small eel from a fishmonger who will gut and skin it for you. Large eel carries more fat and needs a longer cooking plan; the source asks for small fish because its pieces become tender during the brief beer simmer.
• •Choose a dry blond ale or restrained bière de garde with modest hop bitterness. A heavily hopped pale ale grows harsh as it cooks, while stout overwhelms the raw green herbs. Pour the same beer at the table.
• •Sorrel supplies the acidity that keeps the butter and eel from feeling heavy. Pimprenelle is quieter and cucumber-like; if it cannot be found, use the same weight of tender watercress and know that the sauce will taste more peppery.
• •The green color will become olive during cooking. Do not chase a brighter shade by puréeing fresh herbs into the cold sauce; the source cooks its herbs, and their softened texture is part of the dish.
• •Potato starch is insurance, not a compulsory ingredient. A warm sauce that barely coats the spoon usually becomes exactly right after chilling, so wait before thickening. Patience, not paste.
• •Serve with rye bread or a plain baguette and the beer used in the pan. This is a rich first course, so four modest portions are more generous than they look.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the entire dish the day before the dinner. An overnight chill allows the butter, beer, and herbs to settle into one sauce, and the eel remains moist under that coating.
• •The herbs may be washed, picked, and dried up to 6 hours ahead, then wrapped loosely in a barely damp towel in the refrigerator. Chop them only when the eel begins its beer simmer.
• •Keep the finished eel covered and refrigerated, and serve it within 2 days. Do not freeze it; the herbs lose their character and the fécule-bound sauce can separate on thawing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 190g)