How did the British cuisine 'Eel Jelly' gain popularity?
England is the birthplace of various cultures, but for some reason, people tend to think that food is 'bad'. It is often talked about as a symbol of the image that ``British cuisine is bad'', and for travelers from overseas, the representative of British cuisine that is shocking is ``
Jellied Eels, Anyone?-YouTube
Don, the eel jelly that appeared in something like a basin.
It is a food that is often used as a story along with
At wholesalers that handle eels, eels are stored tightly in drawers as shown below.
The man in the center is Mr. John Chilver of 'Micks Eel Supply' who handles eels.
We have a store in Billingsgate Market, London, England.
Chilbar is a person who has been providing live eels to caterers and fishmongers for 33 years. In a drawer lined up that seems to be in documents ......
It contains eel.
“These cute eels here are from the Netherlands.
In the 18th century, many eels inhabited the River Thames in London, so there were many opportunities for ordinary people to eat them.
However, there are only a handful of eel wholesalers left today. Chilver is one of them.
So, ``Why did eel jelly get so popular?''
Next time, I will talk to Mr. Frank Bradley, who makes eel jelly. Bradley is a 72-year-old man who eats eel every day.
According to Mr. Bradley, eel jelly was easy to obtain and was eaten 'as a matter of course' at that time because of the convenience of being able to eat just by opening the lid.
“Eels are edible and have a lot of nutrients. People didn’t realize it at first, but they gradually realized that they were eating a very healthy food.”
“Because there were no Indian or Chinese takeaways like there are now, eel was the source of food.”
So, how do you make eel jelly in modern times, first cut off the head of the eel ......
The body is cut at once by a machine.
After that, it is said that cooking will be done, but there is no image whether this process is a trade secret. When cooking, it is necessary to soften the eel, so the process is said to be 'like art'.
The cooked eel jelly is sold to restaurants.
'Jellied eel and stewed eel, along with pies, mashed potatoes and liqueur sauce, are traditional foods of the East End of London. Of course, they're not for everyone. The world is changing and some people don't like them. ' says Kane Goddard.
“In the old days, we used to cook 50 to 60 bowls of eel a week, but now we have 10 to 12 bowls.”
“Paris is synonymous with baguettes, New York is synonymous with pizza and cheesecake. London’s classics were pies, mashed potatoes and eels.”
'That was the basic meal' ... so when you go to England, please taste the traditional 'eel jelly'.
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