Eel and nettle! The first urbanibalist dinner
The first urbanibalist dinner was held in Amsterdam in March 2007. The eel was caught a short mile behind central station and the nettle and wild flowers plucked from the Amsterdam forest and within the Westerpark zone.
Skinning the eel with hungry cat.
The eel (aal or paling in Dutch) was caught by a fisherman Piet who is one of the last fishermen earning his livelihood fishing in the Amsterdam waters. The nettle was picked when the new leaves are just starting to unfurl and the top is clustered with leaf buds. Theses heads are devoured by blackbirds, particularly in early spring to feed their young. Nettle is a serotonin trigger especially the young nettle tops. No wonder then why the blackbird is so ravenous for this anti-depressive antipasti. So bear in mind, when grasping the nettle in early spring, it’s a small courtesy to leave some nettle tops for the somewhat somber-minded blackbirds who’ve just survived a tryingly chilly winter.
Recipes
IJ eel and Westerpark nettle
The eel and nettle recipe was inspired by a traditional dish from the North-East Italy: the eel is skinned, cleaned and roasted in a big pan (a large-sized wok would do nicely) with butter, olive oil, salt, a bit of garlic, wine and a mountain of nettle leaves.
Salad of wild petals, dandelion buds and birch leaves
Pick the dandelion buds (before they bloom) and cover them with a light film of salt for 6 hours. Then blanch them in a small amount of boiling water, shake dry and macerate them in a jar with vinegar, some grated poor-man’s mustard root and mustard seeds at least for a day. Pluck very young birch leaves, they should be soft and nutty. And pick also the young leaves of the dandelion, preferably from those found under a mound of dirt made by a burrowing mole. Last but not least, some butter-sautéed flowers of coltsfoot, these look a lot like dandelion but are a little lighter and finer.