Eel skinning

Eels are very tasty. You have to gut them, peel off the skin and remove the bones. The eel is long and slippery, therefore it is difficult to remove the skin from it, unless it's done right after the kill. First, gut the eel as described on the opposite page, then peel off the skin, as described below. This is how you can skin an eel before evisceration.

1 Push a strong stick through the gills just below the skull. Hang the stick on two forked sticks stuck vertically into the ground.

2 Grab the eel through the cloth and cut the skin around the neck. Even a dead eel can still writhe.

3 Separate the edge of the cut skin from the meat. Turn the skin over, grab by the cloth and firm, pull it down in a smooth motion, towards the tail.

4 Discard the skin; remove the eel from the stick. Cut off the head and the end of the tail.

5 Lay the eel flat and hold it with a coarse cloth, with a sharp knife, run along the spine parallel to the surface, on which it lies.