THE EEL. 75 



of food; and Numa forbad him to be used in tlie sacri- 

 fices which were offered to the gods, on grounds equally 

 unintelligible, unless we admit the very probable con- 

 jecture that he blindly imitated the Hebrew legislator. 

 The mediciners of later times have denounced him as an 

 unwholesome and indigestible fish ; but malgre the ordi- 

 nances of legislation and the dicta of physicians, he will 

 continue to be gobbled up, by all who like a good thing 

 to the end of time. 



Either fried like a gudgeon, as we have prescribed 

 elsewhere, or served up in the receipt which we have 

 suggested for cooking tench, he is a most admirable fish; 

 seldom equalled, never excelled. A particularly fine 

 sort is caught in the river Nene; and at the Angel at 

 Peterborough, in former days, stewed eels were to be 

 obtained in perfection. The last time we dined there, 

 we fancied they had lost the art ; but we were rather in a 

 hurry, and perhaps scarcely allowed the cook sufficient 

 time. 



There is a mode of cooking them called spatch-cocking, 

 or spitch-cocking. This is a very capital method and 

 any of the cookery books will explain the manner how. 



Collared also, he is a delicious fish, and makes a most 

 piquant addition to the breakfast-table. We have tasted 

 him so good under this sort of discipline, that we cannot 

 refrain from recommending the illustrious process. The 

 eel served in this way, and sauced with a little pepper and 

 vinegar, would make the Pope himself the best maigre 

 dinner his holiness ever dreamt of. 



This fish was in high estimation among the ancients; 

 and the ladies of Greece and Rome were in the habit of 

 wearing bracelets and other ornaments made in the form 

 of this fish, the head and tail forming the clasps. Modern 



