Räucheraal

Räucheraal belongs to the north: Hamburg, Altona, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg, the places where eel came out of rivers, lakes, and the fish market before it came to the table. It's special-occasion fish because it's fatty, scarce, and bought on purpose. You don't find good eel by accident.

The regions split before the knife comes out. Around the coast and the Elbe, I want it hot-smoked whole over beech, skin lacquered gold and the flesh dark and oily under it. Some serve it warm from the smokehouse, others cool it, slice it, and put it on buttered rye with horseradish. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders: in the south they have their trout and char; eel is a northern argument.

The technique that decides it is drying before smoke. Brine seasons the flesh, but wet skin catches soot and turns bitter. Hang the eel until the surface is tacky and dry, then give it steady heat and clean beech smoke. Runter mit der Temperatur if the fat starts dripping hard. You want rendered richness, not a split, greasy fish.

Serve it plainly. Rye bread, butter, grated horseradish, cucumber salad with vinegar, boiled potatoes if it's supper. Weggeworfen wird nichts: the skin and head go into a small fish stock if you have enough bones, because the smoke will season the pot better than any cube. Nicht aus dem Glas.