Friday 12 May 2023

Out and about on a chilly Friday in May. Smuggling eels. What to get excited about next.

 Today is colder that I expected. When ai went out running first thing it didn’t seem bad. So when my daughter suggested meeting at lunchtime (I suspect she had time to fill between two planned activities but maybe I was being cynical) I went out in a light jacket and didn’t bother looking for gloves. It’s a good nob my jacket has pockets. My daughter had been similarly misled. Her small boy was dressed in shorts. This did not stop him enjoying running around and crossing stepping stones to reach the playground on the other side of the river. 

It’s quite amazing what people will smuggle. I read this morning about eel smugglers being caught in Spain:-


“Police in Spain and France have arrested 27 people and seized 1.5 tonnes of live baby eels, as well as goods worth more than €2m (£1.7m), after breaking up a gang dedicated to breeding the critically endangered fishes and smuggling them to China.

Officers also recovered tonnes of frozen baby eels, called elvers, which are prized as a delicacy in Spain and parts of Asia, that had not been subject to any food safety checks and were not suitable for human consumption.


Given its critically endangered status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list of threatened species, the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is subject to EU quotas on fishing and distribution, and its export beyond the bloc is strictly forbidden.”


I was thinking that maybe this was another case of poor people’s food becoming a delicacy (cf frogs’ legs, snails, quite a lot of shellfish, which people began to eat when there was nothing else available) but then I remembered that there was some sort of hoo hah about eel pie as part of the coronation menu. It’s supposedly a tradition that goes back to Henry VIII who is rumoured to have died from an excess of lampreys. I’ve never fancied trying eels myself. So it goes!


With the coronation over and done with, I was wondering what the next thing for is all to get excited about would be. Of course! Eurovision! Another celebration I’ll be avoiding.


Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone! 

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