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Brochettes of Eels
Cut two or three eels in slices about one inch in thickness, after skinning and cleaning; lay them in a dish, dust over with salt, pepper and a little finely chopped parsley and sweet herbs and let them stand for two or three hours. Have in readiness some truffles parboiled in white wine and cut into slices; put the pieces of eels on attelettes or skewers with pieces of truffle between; brush the whole over with yolk of egg, dip into sifted breadcrumbs, put them into a fryingpan of boiling fat and fry for about twenty minutes. When done put them on a dish without removing the skewers and serve.
A skewered fry-up from the Waldorf's kitchen, written when eel was an ordinary market fish and truffles were a garnish rather than an event. Two details need attention: the frying time and where the eel comes from.
- Twenty minutes is far too longTwenty minutes is almost certainly too long -- one-inch slices of eel in hot fat are cooked through in about four to six minutes, and the crumb coat will be dark well before twenty. The long time may reflect cooler, less controlled fat on a coal range. Fry at 350-375F and pull them when the crust is deep gold.
- AttelettesOrnamental silver skewers, often with a decorative finial, used for presenting food upright at table. Any metal or soaked bamboo skewer does the job; the instruction to serve without removing them was about display.
- Marinate coldThe two or three hours standing in salt, pepper and herbs would have been in a cool larder. Do it covered in the refrigerator and pat the slices dry before the egg wash, or the coating will slide.
- Egg yolk alone is a thin bindYolk brushed on and crumbed will hold, but a light dusting of flour first gives the crumbs something to grip. Loosen the yolk with a teaspoon of water so it brushes rather than clots.
- TrufflesFresh black truffle parboiled in white wine is the original intent. Preserved truffle in a jar needs no parboiling. If truffle is out of reach, thick slices of well-browned cremini or a firm cured pork give the skewer the same alternation of rich and lean, though the dish becomes a different one.
- Sourcing the eelEuropean eel is CITES-listed and cannot be traded out of the EU; American eel stocks are also under pressure. Ask for farmed eel, or substitute conger or a firm oily fish cut thick enough to hold on a skewer.
- SkinningEel skin is tough and does not soften in frying, which is why the recipe skins first. Fishmongers will do it; the flesh is firm enough that inch slices stay on the skewer without falling apart.
Oscar Tschirky's 1896 book records the Waldorf's kitchen at a moment when American hotel cooking was essentially French cooking with American supply, and brochettes — small skewers, egg-washed, crumbed and fried — were a standard escoffier-era way to turn a modest fish into a plated course. Eel had long been a New York staple, taken in quantity from the Hudson and the tidal creeks and sold cheaply, so pairing it with truffle was exactly the sort of upward reclassification a grand hotel menu performed on humble ingredients. The attelette itself belongs to the same impulse: a decorative silver skewer left standing in the dish so the diner could see that the kitchen had gone to trouble. Eels are far scarcer now than they were then, and the balance of luxury in this recipe has quietly reversed.