U.S. pitching in to help British city make special pie for queen's diamond jubilee
In the United Kingdom, the city of Gloucester has a tradition of presenting a pie to the king or queen. But this isn't just any pie, it's a pie made with lamprey. Unfortunately, lamprey were fished nearly to death in the U.K. and are a protected species now. So Gloucester has to look to the former colonies to get the pie's key ingredient.
The English city of Gloucester likes to present a gift to the British monarch on special occasions.
Next month’s Diamond Jubilee, the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s ascent to the throne, is such an occasion.
Ever since the Middle Ages, Gloucester’s gift has been a ceremonial pie made with slippery, eel like creatures called sea lampreys. They have strong teeth and attach to a fish, before boring a hole into it to feed on the fish's blood and body system.
Thing is, sea lampreys aren’t so easy to find in England’s Thames and Severn Rivers anymore. But they’re incredibly plentiful in a lake in the United States: Lake Huron. In fact, lampreys are a protected species in the United Kingdom, because they've been hunted so close to extinction. It's the opposite problem in the United States, where they were unintentionally introduced through shipping canals and are actually damaging the native fish species of the Great Lakes.
“I actually almost thought it was joke. I said 'you've got to be kidding, you want lampreys for a pie that you’re going to present to the Queen and you think that’s a nice gesture?' ” said Marc Gaden who is with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission in Detroit.
As far as Gaden knows, no one in the United States area eats lamprey.
Gaden is in charge of getting two pounds of frozen sea lampreys to chefs in Gloucester. He traveled to England this week to make the transfer. So far, Gaden hasn't been served a sample of the final product though.
"It looks awfully nice," he said. "They put the coat of the arms of the city on it. But I've never tried a lamprey or a lamprey pie."
The actual pie for the jubilee will be made this summer.
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Someone, even if they are from Gloucester, please, PLEASE post it here.
(Well, I suppose only a Gloucesterwegian would possess such a recipe)
I think lampreys could be the next big culinary hit in Canada! As a smalI child, I ate eel that my father caught on the St-Lawrence, (and my mother dutifully if distastefully cooked).
I've long since forgotten what eel tastes like, but perhaps a taste for lamprey may be just as delicious, and if this culinary treat is promoted in North America, it may help to eliminate this scourge of the Great Lakes.
I started this comment with the intent to correct PRI- that Manitoulin Island, the largest freshwater island in the world, was in Lake Superior. I had erroneously believed this all my life- but before correcting you, I decided to consult a map, just in case...OMG! IT REALLY IS in Lake Huron! Oh the shame!
You're never too old to learn.
Thank you for educating me, PRI!
"A traditional eel pie recipe from the 1861 volume of the Victorian guide "Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management":
INGREDIENTS -- 1 lb. of eels, a little chopped parsley, 1 shalot; grated nutmeg; pepper and salt to taste; the juice of 1/2 a lemon, small quantity of forcemeat, 1/4 pint of béchamel; puff paste.
Mode. -- Skin and wash the eels, cut them into pieces 2 inches long, and line the bottom of the pie-dish with forcemeat. Put in the eels, and sprinkle them with the parsley, shalots, nutmeg, seasoning, and lemon-juice, and cover with puff-paste. Bake for 1 hour, or rather more; make the béchamel hot, and pour it into the pie.
Time. -- Rather more than 1 hour.
Seasonable from August to March."
What is terribly humiliating is that it is the Americans that are sending these lampreys to Glousester for the Queen's pie!
I'll have you know that the Queen is the QUEEN OF CANADA!
She is our sovereign. And no Canadian fishermen... uhh, fisherpersons bothered to even catch a lamprey for her pie.
Oh, the tragedy. Canadians are always the last to find out these matters of royal protocol!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/04/diamond-jubilee-tradition-under-threat-by-lamprey-shortage.html?cmp=rss
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9221440/Traditional-lamprey-pie-for-the-Queen-has-to-come-from-Canada-for-first-time-in-centuries.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-17955359
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20120504/Canada-saves-eel-pie-tradition-for-Diamond-Jubilee-120505/
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