Eels live in freshwater, but they can travel over land for long distances. At the age of about 10, they swim downstream in rivers across Europe to the Atlantic Ocean and find their way to the Sargasso Sea. They then spawn and die, and their hatch-lings drift on the Gulf Stream currents towards Europe, a journey that takes at least two years. When the Angulas finally arrive on Spain’s Atlantic shores, fisherman using scoop nets are waiting for them. The season starts in November, and the best time to catch them is in the middle of the coldest, blackest, rainiest nights when the tide is strong and the water is rough.
So it is feasible to see why the Angulas are so expensive when the harvesting process takes so long and the season is so short. Exclusivity has always played a role in gastronomy, and as always some customers are prepared to pay for this.