Identify this seafood (in a market in Spain)

[Mangetout]

Posting this from my mum's PC on a camp site in Spain (it's pouring with rain now, (mostly on the plain))...

We visited an excellent covered market the other day and the seafood stalls were simply amazing. Most items I recognised, but there was one that was a bit of a mystery. It was a big containter of what appeared to be tiny translucent fish or eels - completely pale white in colour with two little black eyes.
I've seen people eating elvers (baby eels) before, but they were bigger than this, and darker.

What are these things? Also, how should I serve them? I'm thinking that they might be nice dredged in seasoned flour and plunged briefly into hot oil.

[Ike Witt]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

What are these things? Also, how should I serve them? I'm thinking that they might be nice dredged in seasoned flour and plunged briefly into hot oil.

Everything tastes okay when it has been breaded and deep fried.

[Fear Itself]

Angulas?

[Martha Medea]

Boquerones?

[Dinsdale]

Originally Posted by Fear Itself

Angulas?

Man, those things look like something that should be served only to contestants on Survivor, or at a Klingon dining hall!

[Mangetout]

Originally Posted by Fear Itself

Angulas?

That looks quite similar - I'm going to try them and report back... If I survive....

[Fear Itself]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

That looks quite similar - I'm going to try them and report back... If I survive....

¡Mirada! ¡El Inglés está comiendo las anguilas! < risa >

[Ludovic]

Originally Posted by Fear Itself

¡Mirada! ¡El Inglés está comiendo las anguilas! < risa >

mi aerodeslizador es lleno de anguilas.

[Antonius Block]

Where in Spain are you, Mangetout? I've had angulas in the Basque country. They were quite expensive, so I only had a tiny dish served as part of a selection of pinxtos (Basque tapas). What's the market price of the things that you saw?

They're very delicate-tasting -- not at all fishy. I think it would be a waste to flour and deep-fry them. They're usually sautéed briefly in olive oil with garlic and red peppers. As Fear Itself's link says, it's traditional to eat them with a wooden fork, since they're so slippery (plus metal is supposed to taint the flavour).

Since the little buggers can breathe both in water and in air, they're usually "drowned" in tobacco-infused water soon after being caught, then parboiled and stored in brine.

[Good to see you're living up to your username, Mangetout.]

[Mangetout]

Hello! I have returned from rainy Spain to sunny Blighty and would like to report on my experience.

Here are the gory details...

[Fear Itself]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

I have returned from rainy Spain to sunny Blighty and would like to report on my experience.

Did the rain in Spain fall mainly on the plain?

[Mangetout]

I couldn't say, but I do know that in Hertfordshire, Herefordshire and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly happen.