Despite London being a global food capital, many will be surprised to learn that eels have been a locally sourced component of its table for hundreds of years.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230820-the-untold-story-of-londons-original-fast-food
European eel, courtesy of Jack Perks
In the 1740s, pleasure boaters would jauntily sail from central London down the River Thames to an islet once known as Twickenham Ait in Richmond, mooring at an inn that had built a reputation across the city for selling just one thing: eel pies.
Eel Pie House was the grand tavern’s name, and punting parties would drift along the shore and then congregate for merry picnics on the riverside. Inside, the inn’s chefs would skin, debone and trim batches of Thames eels into three-inch chunks, before stewing them ready for pastry and the pie oven.
Years later, the islet would be rechristened Eel Pie Island, and the eel-filled pastry’s transformation from nutritious novelty to cheap, ubiquitous foodstuff was complete. Today, London’s original fast food still inspires travellers to seek it out, despite the passing of hundreds of years.
When I met Rick Poole on a softly lit lunchtime in spring, he was considering this same history and how, at the turn of the 20th Century, the humble eel came to define his family’s legacy. “We used to have sawdust on the floor of our shops to soak up the juice from the discarded eel bones,” he recalled. “It was quite a horrible thing. Awful, really. And we had the sawdust right up until the late 1970s.”
Pie with liquor and jellied eel can be still found on the menu at London’s eel and pie houses (Credit: Sergio Amiti/Getty Images)
Poole is director of M. Manze, London’s oldest surviving eel and pie house – some say the oldest in the world – and great-grandson of original owner, Michele Manze. A sign outside the cafe proclaims “Manzes will change your life!” and the frill-free business has been serving customers since 1902. (London’s first eel house was opened in 1892 by one Robert Cooke, who then sold it to his son-in-law – Michele Manze.)
By the 1930s, a total of 14 eel and pie shops carried the M. Manze name across London, but these days, only three remain, with the traditionally fronted building with dark green awning and Union Jack flags at 87 Tower Bridge Road the oldest survivor. And, according to its regulars, it is London’s original fast food take-away.
Walking into M. Manze’s for the first time feels like a London from another time. Poole uses the term “intimidating”. There are communal marble-topped tables, dark wood pew benches and distinctive green and white wall tiles. A counter is bookended by trays of self-serve cutlery and bottles of chilli vinegar on one side and a cash register on the other. From mid-morning until 18:00, and later at the weekends, staff take orders of stewed eels, jellied eels (set in viscous aspic jelly made from eel bones), and – the favourite these days – minced beef meat pies served with mash and liquor. Originally eel gravy, this “liquor” is now a soup-thin, seaweed-green parsley sauce.
M. Manze is London’s oldest surviving eel and pie house (Credit: M. Manze)
Times, as well as tastes, have changed. During the 1970s, eels were a stock in trade of market stalls and unassuming Cockney cafes throughout south and east London, but now this time-honoured meal is dying a slow death.
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Thames Catchment Community Eels Project
website: https://www.thamesriverstrust.org.uk/thames-catchment-community-eels-project/
We were thrilled to be lead the Thames Catchment Community Eels Project. It was one of the first environmental projects awarded a grant from the government’s £80 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund
The project was a partnership, led by Thames Rivers Trust in partnership with fellow Rivers Trusts Action for the River Kennet, South East Rivers Trust and Thames21, the project was driven to aid the long-term survival of the European eel.
The rivers in the Thames catchment have an immense natural and cultural heritage. The eel was once common, yet is now critically endangered.
Together the partnership worked closely with the Zoological Society of London and Thames Estuary Partnership to created and pilot a nationally recognised methodology (now known as ObstacEELS) suitable for citizen science use to identify, assess and map barriers to eel migration in our rivers.
5 rivers were targeted for this project and local volunteers trained to use an app walk the riverbanks in small teams over 2021. The new data has been shared with the Thames River Basin Eel Management Plan and is being used by the partner Rivers Trusts, Catchment Partnerships and others for strategic prioritisation for future eel projects improving river connectivity.
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The European Eel
Further information:
European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is a ‘catadromous’ fish – that is, it spawns and is born at sea, and then migrates into inland waters to eat and grow.
European eel has a complex life cycle: adults spawn in the Sargasso Sea in the Caribbean and the larvae migrate towards European shores following the Gulf Stream current. Eels live on average 5-20 years in freshwaters and brackish waters (rivers, coastal lagoons and lakes) before returning to sea to spawn once and die.
The eel’s habitat used to span across EU waters (including in the Baltic), but they are now found mostly in the rivers of Atlantic EU countries and in the Mediterranean. The last 20 years have seen a dramatic decline in the number of eels reaching European river systems. European eel is listed as “critically endangered” under the IUCN Red List.
The critical situation of the European eel is due to various human activities, notably
- fishing in marine, brackish and freshwaters
- barriers to up- and downstream migration (including damming of river systems for hydro-electric power)
- pollution
Possible other causes include parasites and changes to the course of the Gulf Stream. Poaching (illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU)) and illegal export to Asia are other major concerns.
The status of the European eel is monitored regularly, and the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) provides scientific advice to support the development and implementation of the measures for the stock recovery. Scientific advice confirms that the status of eels at all life stages remains critical.
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