Madeleine Calling for Anguilla

The taste of smoked eel is deeply rooted in the collective memory of those living in Northern Europe. With this dish, we wish to tap into this memory in the hopes to remind them of their beloved fishy friend and of the urgency to care for them. The first restaurant proprietor is believed to have been one A. Boulanger, a soup vendor, who opened his business in Paris in 1765. The sign above his door advertised restoratives, or restaurants, referring to the soups and broths and their restorative qualities. We serve an eel broth, with a strong flavor of eel, by using its fats and other remains from the smoking process for the broth, but the actual fish is nowhere to be found. Because perhaps this broth not only restores our body, but also the body of the eel, the eel communities and the rivers.

approximately 2l broth

500g eel skin (150g baked in the oven at 100°C for 1 hour, then dried)
3 parsnips, peeled and chopped into large chunks
1 celery stalk, chopped into large chunks
1 leek, cleaned and chopped into large chunks
3 shallots, halved
Salt, to taste
White pepper, to taste
Honey, for making the honey eel skin ring

1. Prepare the Broth
Preheat your oven to 100°C.

Bake the eel skin: Place 150g of eel skin in the oven on a baking tray and bake for 1 hour at low heat (100°C). Once baked, remove it and let it cool. Once cooled, crush it into small pieces to use for the honey eel skin ring.

In a large pot, add 2.5L of water and bring it to a boil.

Prepare the vegetables: Chop the parsnips, celery, and leek into large chunks. Halve the shallots.

Add the vegetables and the remaining 350g of eel skin to the pot of water. Bring to a boil.

Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and let the broth simmer for 3 hours or more to extract the flavors from the eel skin and vegetables.

Season the broth with salt and white pepper to taste add the other 100g of baked eel skin into the broth at the end for 10 mins.

Stir occasionally and check the seasoning as it simmers.

2. Make the Honey Eel Skin Ring
Take the baked and dried eel skin (about 50g) and crush it finely using a mortar and pestle or by hand.

Prepare the glass ring: Dip a glass ring mold (or a small glass) into honey so that the honey coats the outer edges of the ring.

Roll the honey-coated ring in the crushed eel skin, ensuring it’s fully covered, creating a crunchy eel skin "crust" around the ring.

3. Serve the Broth
Once the broth has finished simmering, strain it to remove the vegetables and eel skin bits, leaving just the rich, flavorful broth.

Pour the broth into individual serving glasses or mugs.

Place the honey eel skin ring on top of each serving glass

Serve the broth hot, with the honey eel skin ring floating on top. The sweet and savory contrast of the honey and eel skin adds a delicate crunch and flavor to the broth.