SC - eels? fish cultivation?

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Mark Harris wrote:
> 
> Par Leijonhufvud said:
> > like gravlax, smoked eel, smooked salmon, etc.
> 
> Ah, ha! So eel *is* still available in some places. That's another
> item that I've wanted to try since I started studying medieval foods
> and reading this list.

Smoked eel is a pretty big deal all across Northern Europe. And rightly
so.
 
> Since it's been five or six months since it was last asked, anyone
> have any sources for eel? It's not common these days but apparently
> was commonly raised in medieval fish and mill ponds much as we raise
> catfish today. Anybody know what else was raised in medieval ponds?
> Did they raise any fish such as catfish? Catfish may be North American.

I seem to recall that the carp was raised in artificial ponds in
Britain, to which they are not, IIRC, indigenous. I also have a vague
recollection of catfish being mentioned in Izaak Walton's "The Compleat
Angler", roughly contemporary to both Digby and Samuel Pepys. As for
eels, they are migratory. Specifically, they behave in a manner opposite
to the way in which salmon, shad, and some trout migrate and spawn.
Those fish are what is known as anadromous, meaning they leave the ocean
and swim into rivers and streams to spawn. Eels live in rivers and
streams, and swim out to sea, specifically the Sargasso Sea, to spawn. I
believe that eels (and also lampreys, BTW) are available frozen, shipped
commercially from Canada. You could probably get your local fish market
to inquire and/or order you some. Or, live eels could probably be picked
up at the ubiquitous Asian market ;  ) .

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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