This is our dad Michele’s recipe - he has been making this forever! When we were children, we would squeal and I’m not sure if it was with fear or delight as our dad would bring home the live eels! They would swim around in the sink or bath – wherever he had put them and we would watch as he chopped them ready to be cooked. They would keep on moving and we were mesmerised!
The appearance is not that inviting, but the meat is white, fatty and of a very delicate taste. Italy is still the main European producer and one of the biggest exporters in the rest of Europe too.

Italian eels and Capitone eels mainly come from the fishing valleys of the river Po delta, the Orbetello, Lesina and Varano lagoons, in part from Sardinian ponds and of course in Bari.

This is a dish served all year round but especially on Christmas eve. Our dad used to make this grilled eel recipe and also stewed in tomato sauce which we would eat with spaghetti.

For centuries the Catholic church prohibited its followers from eating meat on Fridays and on Christmas Eve. It was supposed to be a form of self-deprivation, but for Italians
living in the countryside who rarely ate meat as it was too expensive, it was part and parcel of daily living. Eel is a traditional part of a seafood-centric Christmas Eve dinner (La Vigilia di Natale) in many parts of Italy, particularly in the southern Italian towns of Bari and Naples and often makes an appearance as part of the Italian-American Feast of the Seven Fish.