Eel in green sauce

I've had another Dutch success- though this time the inspiration seems to have come from Belgium.

Still, eel in green sauce is also eaten in Holland and now it's part of my repertoire as well.

Originally made with river eel, here in Aus it seems more likely that the dish will be made with sea eel, but the concept remains the same.

It might be 'in green sauce', but I find the result to be rather more yellow than green. I guess this may change with different herb ratios or eggs that aren't quite so happy and free-range, and I have yet to report the findings if I were to use fresh herbs (rather than dried as the recipe suggests)- but you get the drift.

This is another gem from that brilliant work of the 1970's 'Dutch and Belgian Cooking'.

You see, despite all evidence that this book is less than exemplary when it comes to Dutch cuisine, I live in hope.

First... find your eel.

In my case a certain amount of scouting around town turned up Win Sam Seafood, in Glen Waverley, who regularly display Australian eel, but it is worth checking before you set out. After all, it's not your most common fish item.

I also found that Ducgo Live Seafood in Box Hill often has eel, but they were down on stock when I called.

Eel in Green Sauce- "Paling in het groen"

Ingredients:

• 1kg eel, cleaned
• 3 Tspn butter
• 6 shallots finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried sage
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp tried tarragon
• 2 Tspn finely chopped fresh parseley
• 1/2 tsp salt & pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 eggs yolks- lightly beaten
• Juice 1/2 lemon

Method:

Cut the eel into 5cm pieces. Heat the butter in a fry-pan and saute eel over moderately high heat until pieces are lightly browned on all sides.

Add the shallots, herbs, salt and pepper, white wine and just enough water to barely cover the eels. Bring the dish to a simmer, cover the pan and cook gently for 6-8 minutes or until the eel is tender when tested with a skewer.

Remove the eels to a serving dish and set aside. Ladle a small amount of the hot pan liquid into the beaten eggs yolks and whisk thoroughly. Then pour the whisked egg mixture back into the pan liquid, along with the lemon juice- whisking continuously until slightly thickened.

Note: do not allow the mixture to boil, particularly after the eggs have been added or it will cook the egg proteins into unattractive milky strands.

Not so appealing.

Pour the sauce over the eels in the serving dish and place in the fridge to chill.

Serve cold, garnished with extra parsley and heavy, dark bread like pumpernickel, to scoop up the sauce.

Surprisingly sweet, the dish has a velvety, creamy texture and is lovely in a small serve as a starter, or as a larger dish for mains.

Perfect for warmer days.

Gut-wrenching experiences

In an attempt to always 'look my food in the eye' and really appreciate where it has come from and what it has given up for me, today involved a trip to the trout farm. OK, so it's not as 'hunter gatherer' as hitting the high seas or a wild river for my fish, but I'm still an L plater when it comes to the fishing thing and today was about learning how to catch and gut, not just sitting on a riverbank for hours on end.

If you want the beginners 'how to' of both catching your dinner and getting it 'table ready', then I recommend the easy way in of the Australian Rainbow Trout Farm in Victoria's glorious Dandenongs.

Here, we spent the day getting used to rods and bait- with the added bonus of having people to ask if we got stuck, as well as all the equipment supplied for us. The best part is, unless you're really unlucky, it's a guaranteed catch.

So, after landing one or two in the small ponds to get the hang of it, we headed to 'the big lake' for some more challenging angling and after 2.5 hours we're covered in blood, sweaty, a little bit sunburnt and we've landed 6 trout- 5 smaller ones to bake whole and a a huge one from the 'big'uns' pond. Ripper.

But here's the gross- our caretaker Ben is going to show us how to gut our own, so that in the event that we do take to the river life, we don't have to rely on others to sort out the nasty bits.

Suprisingly for this on-again-off-again vegetarian it wasn't too bad. See, I may not have been able to give up meat, but as a result I feel that it's only fair to put myself through the discomfort of preparing it (where I can) in order to really appreciate it. The idea being that if I can't do that, then I have no right to indulge. Mmmm, tasty.

A slit down the belly and some gills, lungs and intestines later, we've got table ready trout and yep, I'm also still prepared to eat them. Better yet, I've got heads, tails and some unexpected roe for soups, stocks and much more besides. Back at home, we kept it as simple as possible to enjoy all the flavour of the catch.

Salt-baked Trout with smashed potatoes and parsley-lemon salad

(Salt baked fish from Tessa Kiros' 'Falling Cloudberries') 

In a large baking dish bury two whole trout in enough rock-salt to completely cover them. Bake in a 200degC oven for 40mins, or until a test skewer comes out hot. The salt will form a hard crust, crack it open, remove the fish and serve in portions dusting off as much salt as possible.

While the fish is cooking, parboil some baby potatoes, then lightly smash them so they break open. Toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and place in the oven with fish until crispy.

Wash and de-stem 3 large handfuls of flat-leaf parsley, slice 2 lemons into wedges (removing all pith), combine with olive oil and 1/2 tsp smokey paprika. Serve as a salad with the fish and potatoes.