Two lamprey recipes for big connoisseurs and beyond

You already know every year: from January to May, supporters of lamprey You can enjoy this snack at will.

But where does the interest in this food come from? Surprisingly, its origin is religious: between Carnival and Easter, the Christian people fast and abstain from meat, which led to the search for other food alternatives. The villages that lived near the river resorted to it, thus taking advantage of the spawning season of the lamprey, to start consuming it.

The lamprey can measure more than one meter and weigh about two kilograms and is, for many, a real delicacy that is very desirable. Check out two different ways to cook.

Lamprey à Bordalesa

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg of lamprey
• 4dl of red wine
• 60gr of ham
• 1.5dl of olive oil
• 1 big onion
• 1 bunch of spices (parsley, bay leaf, 1 clove of garlic)
• 1 table spoon of flour
• Salt, pepper, chopped parsley qb
• Toasted bread

preparation method

• Scald the live lamprey in boiling water.
• Scrape the lamprey with 1 knife to remove the slimy layer and rub with a burlap towel.
• Then wash in cold water, place in a large bowl with the wine and cut off the head.
• Then make 1 cut along the last 3 bottom holes.
• Make another cut in the anal area, cutting the hole next to the tail, taking care not to pierce the digestive tract.
• Quickly and carefully remove the entire gut.
• Cut the lamprey into pieces of 4 to 6 cm that are introduced into the blood with the wine.
• Season with salt, pepper and spices.
• Let it marinate for about an hour.
• Chop the onion and heat it in a pan with the olive oil to brown.
• Add the drained lamprey steaks, the ham cut into cubes and let it cook for 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle with the marinade, in which the flour crumbled.
• Cook over low heat for 20 minutes, taking care to stir occasionally.
• When the lamprey is cooked, remove it from the pan and let the sauce simmer for another 10 minutes.
• Pass through a sieve into another pot and add the lamprey.
• Bring to a boil to warm up.
• On a platter, place the slices of toasted bread cut into squares, and place a slice of lamprey on each of them.
• Drizzle with the sauce and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

lamprey rice

Ingredients

• 1 lamprey
• 2 spoons of white vinegar
• 2 dl mature red wine
• 2 dl red green wine
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 sprig of parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 onions
• 2dl of olive oil
• 100gr of ham
• 2 strips of bacon or 3 slices of sausage
• custom-made rice
• salt qb

preparation method

• Place the live lamprey in a bowl and scald quickly with boiling water.
• Remove and scrape with a knife and then with a burlap cloth or a thick mop in order to remove all the viscous substance.
• Remove the teeth and wash thoroughly with cold water.
• Clean with a cloth and hang by the tail, placing a bowl of vinegar and wine underneath to catch any blood that drips.
• Make a vertical cut in front of the mouth and along the last three lower holes and remove the spine.
• Make another cut around the anal orifice and carefully pull the gut so that it comes out whole and without bursting.
• Also remove the liver and very carefully the gall.
• Cut into slices without completely separating the fish.
• Season the mixture of wines, vinegar and blood that drained with salt, pepper, garlic, parsley and bay leaf, put the lamprey in this syrup and let it marinate for at least two hours.
• In a saucepan, sauté the chopped onions and oil, add the ham and bacon or sausage cut into pieces and a little of the marinade mixture.
• Let it cook and add the lamprey, adding the remaining syrup as needed.
• Once cooked, remove the lamprey and add a little water to about 6 times the volume of the rice, season with salt and bring to the boil.
• Add the rice without washing it.
• Let it cook for about 20 minutes, put the lamprey back in and serve immediately.