Eel special: 2. Silver Eels with John Wyatt Greenlee

In part 2 of his three-part Eel Special, Neil looks at adult eels – yes our little elvers from last week have all grown up. In this episode he looks at the folklore of eels, as well as how they were caught and cooked, and he talks to his guest this week John Wyatt Greenlee, medieval eel historian and maker of eel memes, about the importance of eel in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period.

Useful things:

John’s twitter handle @greenleejw

John’s excellent website: https://historiacartarum.org/

The infamous eel scene from ‘The Tin Drum’ (not a clip for the squeamish!):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFSstdnfqjk

Neil’s blog post about eel, pie and mash houses: https://britishfoodhistory.com/2012/01/22/eel-pie-and-mash/

Neil’s traumatic eel encounter: https://neilcooksgrigson.com/2009/10/13/next-simply-prepare-your-eels/

All of Neil’s eel posts from ‘British Food a History’: https://britishfoodhistory.com/tag/eels/

All of Neil’s eel posts from ‘Neil Cooks Grigson’: https://neilcooksgrigson.com/tag/eel/

Also, don’t forget if you have any questions or queries about today’s episode, or indeed any episode, feel I missed something important, or have a question about the history of British food please email neil@britishfoodhistory.com, or find me on twitter @neilbuttery, or Instagram dr_neil_buttery.

If you like my blog posts and podcast episodes, please consider a monthly subscription or buying me a virtual coffee or a pint? Go to https://britishfoodhistory.com/support-the-blog-podcast/ for more details.

Mentioned in this episode:

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