My Grandfather’s Smoked Eel

My grandfather fished and smoked eel when I was a child.

Mario Girard

A man with a happy expression on his face recounts a childhood memory.

[Mario Girard] My father made it a bit like they used to do. And especially my grandfather. I saw how he made it. He climbed up on the roof with his eels attached to a piece of wire. He then lowered them into the chimney. He heated mainly with hardwood, because that’s what people used when they wanted to smoke fish. That’s how he smoked it.

[Interviewer] It must have taken quite a while.

[M.G.] I think he left it there for two days. And it was delicious.

[Interviewer] Do you remember if it was skinned?

[M.G.] He removed the skin before smoking it because the skin could give it a particular flavour. People said it tasted a bit like mud.

[Interviewer] That’s a nice childhood memory.

[M.G.] Oh yes, I clearly recall when my grandfather climbed onto the roof of the house with his eels.