Anguille renversée. Prenez une grosse anguille et l’estauvez, puis la fendez par le dos au long de l’areste d’un costé et d’autre, en telle manière que vous ostiez d’une part l’areste, queue et teste tout ensemble, puis lavez et ploiez icelle à l’envers, c’est assavoir la char par dehors, et soit liée loing à loing: et la mettez cuire en vin vermeil
Le Ménagier de paris, 180
Reversed eel. Take a large eel and skin it, then split it along the back, down the length of the bone on both sides, in such a way that you remove the bone, tail, and head all together in one piece. Then wash and turn it inside out – that is, the flesh outward – and tie it at intervals and cook in red wine.
Le Ménagier de paris, 180
Description
A similar recipe appears in all three of our major sources from the turn of the 15th Century in France - Le Ménagier de Paris, Le Viandier, and Du Fait de Cuisine - LM calls this "Reversed Eels" where LV and DF call it a "Soringue" of eels.
They appear to be the same dish largely, but LM's cooking method is slightly different, and he gives us specific directions for butchering it, splitting it down the middle, and tying it together with the flesh outward before poaching. The other two call for frying onions, then adding the eel to this. All three primarily agree on the sauce or broth - tasting strongly of wine, thickened, spiced, and sharpened with vinegar. DF and LM call for nearly the same list of spices, though LM adds Cassia Buds as well, and LV calls for somewhat fewer but includes Saffron.
My redaction uses the LM list of ingredients, but for sake of time and budget, we will procure perfectly roasted and readily available eels ready-made from the local Asian market. If you have access to fresh eels, by all means, use them! At the event where this was first served, we presented a vegetarian option using King Oyster Mushrooms. All one needs to do is poach thick slices of mushroom in the same broth. This worked particularly well because, in using a vegetarian broth, we could poach the mushrooms first and set some broth aside, then proceed with the Eel in the remaining broth with very little extra work to make our feast more accessible.
Ingredients
Instructions
-
Dissolve the Cornstarch in 2 T. of the Broth and set aside.
-
Add all of the remaining ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil
-
Whisk in the Cornstarch slurry and continue whisking at a boil for 1 minute
-
Add the Eel to the sauce and simmer gently, heating it to 165°F internally
If your Eel comes packed in sauce, I recommend gently rinsing it to remove as much as possible before poaching it in the Wine. -
Remove the Eel from the sauce and serve topped with the hot sauce.
