this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2025
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There's a London dish called Eel Jelly that used to popular when the Thames was full of them. I'm genuinely curious about it since I'm not British and I hear all the time "Haha colonialism they don't even use the spices" so I'm wondering what they actually use in traditional recipes. I'd guess onion, garlic and leek with pepper coming in with the Indian colonisation instead of immigrants.
It's not Eel Jelly. It's actually Jellied Eel. The difference is that with a name like "Eel Jelly" it would seem to be a dish made by adding Eel to Jelly. But Jellied Eel is actually eel cooked in such a way that it becomes jellied. Eels are naturally high in collagen, so you don't need anything special to make them jellied.
Back in the day that was a bonus because eels were poor people food, and the fact they became jellied resulted in a bit of natural preservation, which was important for poor people's food in the days before refrigeration.
As for the spices used, I imagine before colonization it was whatever naturally grows in the UK for the peasants, and whatever grows naturally in Europe for the nobility, who were often tied to or from European noble houses. Here's an article on some of the things that can be foraged in the UK. I imagine that a lot of the spices that used to be used are no longer used. They were probably replaced with better spices that don't have a bitter aftertaste, or have a stronger pleasant taste.
Not from London but found a few recipes online and it appears to always include: eels, gelatin, onion, black peppercorns, salt, vinegar. Then sometimes: bay leaves, carrots, parsley, lemon juice, cloves, fish stock.