SC - Moray eel

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Robin Carroll-Mann wrote:
> 
> I'm in the midst of translating the eel recipes in Nola, and all the recipes
> for moray eel have the same perplexing instruction.  They say to lash
> the eel well, so that all the spines/thorns will descend to the tail.  One
> should then cut off the tail.  (One recipe says that if you wish to play a
> trick on a friend, you should give him the tail to eat.)  Now, I've been
> researching the moray on the web, and have found out that its bite is
> toxic, as is its blood, but cooking will render it safe to eat.  And the
> traditional method of killing one is to hold the tail end and strike it hard
> against a stone or other hard surface.  This, I assume, is what Nola
> means by "lashing it".  However, as far as I can tell, none of the species
> of moray have spines on their tails.  Is this some kind of folk belief to
> explain why a poisonous fish is safe to eat after cooking?  Or is there
> something about moray anatomy that I am missing?

Pure, blind speculation: Is there any chance that the spines are a
mistranslation or unusual colloquialism for the poison itself, be it
either some kind of venom stored in glands or the blood itself?

Seems to me that whacking the head with a stick or something would cause
an imbalance of hemostatic pressure, driving the blood, and, perhaps,
poison out of the head, internal organs and musculature, and into the
rear of the animal.

On the other hand, the fact that it is considered funny to give the tail
of this supposedly poisonous eel to one's friends (several pages of this
kind of thing are, of course, found in the catalog of Johnson, Smith,
Inc., of Racine, Wisconsin) might suggest that there is no danger to the
diner when the eel is cooked, so maybe it really is a matter of
denaturing some proteins.

Anything in de Nola about Whoopie Cushions or Joy Buzzers?

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com