Consider the Eel

by Richard Schweid

Journalist Richard Schweid first learned the strange facts of the freshwater eel's life from a fisherman in a small Spanish town just south of Valencia. "The eeler who explained the animal's life cycle to me did so as he served up an eel he had just taken from a trap, killed, cleaned, and cooked in olive oil in an earthenware dish," writes Schweid. "I ate it with a chunk of fresh, crusty bread. It was delicious. I was immediately fascinated."

As this engaging culinary and natural history reveals, the humble eel is indeed an amazing creature. Every European and American eel begins its life in the Sargasso Sea--a vast, weedy stretch of deep Atlantic waters between Bermuda and the Azores. Larval eels drift for up to three years until they reach the rivers of North America or Europe, where they mature and live as long as two decades before returning to the Sargasso to mate and die. Eels have never been bred successfully in captivity.

Consulting fisherfolk, cooks, and scientists, Schweid takes the reader on a global tour to reveal the economic and gastronomic importance of eel in places such as eastern North Carolina, Spain, Northern Ireland, England, and Japan. (While this rich yet mild-tasting fish has virtually disappeared from U.S. tables, over $2 billion worth of eel is still eagerly consumed in Europe and Asia each year.) The book also includes recipes, both historic and contemporary, for preparing eel.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Science, History, Food, Natural History, Biology

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Tuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

fascinating world wide look at these global travelers. no, really.
be sure to see prosek 's book on eels also. a wonderful book.

[Notafood · Rating 4 out of 5]

in the vein of "salt" i love when authors take something mundane and dig so deep you will never look at it the same again. eels, however, are anything but mundane. they are reviled and weird, so hidden, and yet schweid unveils their "natural and gastronomic history" until you are fascinated by their beauty.

i am now pro-eel. i said it. i heart eels.

there is also a very hot 17th century poem in this book about eel sex, which i wholeheartedly recommend.

[Hallie]

getting into eels

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know, I know. Eels are icky. They're twisty and slimy and thoroughly unappealing. And yet, I couldn't put this book down. Schweid does for eels what Ellis did for Giant Squid or Kurlansky did for cod: take a maligned or little-known creature and show us the wonder to be found.

Did you know we're still not really sure how eels mate? Or that we wouldn't have a clue where they gave birth if someone hadn't accidentally found a tiny, translucent elver in the Sargasso Sea? It really blows me away that humanity has been interacting with eels for a good long time and we still have so many unanswered questions.

Scweid also introduces us to various people who have some connection to eels, either through their culture or their job (eel fishermen) or their fascination (eel scientist). He does an excellent job introducing us to these people and letting them tell their own stories.

On top of all this, Schweid gives a culinary history of eels, complete with recipes and his own culinary adventures in tracking the recipes down.

Who would have thought that the humble eel would prove so fascinating?

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

great book. made me hungry for sauteed eels. Freud discovered eel testes, way before he was studying humans. Where else can you learn such wonderful stuff as "The eels like nothing better than to come up under a ripe herring in the river and press their heads on the herring’s anal vent, which causes the eggs to stream out"

[Judy Masters · Rating 5 out of 5]

This very short non fiction book is far more interesting than one would imagine. The eel is not a creature I would like to eat, but nonetheless is an intriguing part of the ocean life. The eel's life is still mostly unknow and the book tells of its history in parts of Europe and the United States. Fascinating read. The more I learn the more I realize how little I know. Loved this little book.

[Sonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating

[Matt Coulter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will be referencing the history of usage dried eel skins as flogging devices on dates and family dinners from this point on.

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

Schweid appropriates MK Fisher's famous format for an eel treatment. The eel is, indeed, fascinating and unique but this book did not hold my interest like MKF's -- her prose is more sparkling and humorous. Schweid does his research but writes like a graduate student, alas.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is all about eels and it is ridiculously fascinating.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eels are fucking crazy.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great read, lots of info. Prose style.

[Susan Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Representative but informative. A slow read but worth the hassle if considered an interesting topic.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tastes great in Sushi!