Compléter Preparing and Eating EelsVersion en ligne A short Cloze Reading task on cooking and eating eels in New Zealand par Dave Vandy 1 ponds sugar out much hanging swim the back where with food dry them ocean sand long best chimney barbecue One of the ways to prepare eels is to smoke . To do this you gut the eel , peel its skin and rub brown on the flesh . You then smoke the eel by it on a hook in an open - fire . Eels can also be cut crossways into steaks , rubbed olive oil and pepper , and fried on the . As eel is very rich , you won't need to get your fill . Mature eels leave their freshwater homes and head to sea to breed . Early Maori dug long trenches in the at the mouth of an estuary , at the point eels would pass to reach the . Rather than out to sea , the trenches led the eel to shallow where they were speared , gutted and laid on racks to . Dried eel ensured a sustained supply over winter months .