The Epicure's Almanac or Diary of Good Living
December 18th : STEWED EELS
After killing, as before directed, skin and cut the fish into lengths of about two inches; fill a frying-pan with fresh parsley, and place the eels upon it over a slow fire, extract as much of the oily fat from the fish as possible, keeping them turned, and having sufficient parsley to prevent their touching the pan.
Place them on a slanting board, to drain for a couple of hours. Have ready some rich beef gravy, into which put two table-spoonfuls of mixed sweet herbs in powder, two glasses of sherry, a third of Cayenne pepper to three fourths of a spoonful of salt, and a dozen small silver onions; let the fish stew in these ingredients over a slow fire for an hour.
Strain the gravy through a sieve; should it require thickening, add a little flour, beat up with the yolk of an egg, lay the onions on the dish, and the sauce, quite hot, over the fish. Garnish with slices of lemon.