According to the BBC, a sea-lamprey pie made for the monarchs in England by chefs in the city of Gloucester was a Christmas tradition that dated back to the Middle Ages.
The custom stalled in the 19th century, but has been revived of late for special occasions.
This year, Gloucester chefs plan to cook up a lamprey pie for Queen Elizabeth II for her Diamond Jubilee in June - marking 60 years of her reign.
And this time around, the lampreys in the pie will come from the Great Lakes.
The Detroit Free Press reports the Great Lakes Fishery Commission's Marc Gaden will gladly make an official delivery of the lampreys while vacationing in England this May.
Here, the lampreys are an invasive species that continue to threaten the sport fishing industry. But that's not the case in England:
Although lamprey used to be abundant in the Severn River near Gloucester, the creatures are now endangered and protected. "It would be like us making a pie out of piping plover," an endangered shorebird in Michigan, Gaden said. Gaden already has shipped 2 pounds of slimy Lake Huron lamprey, frozen, to Gloucester, but he is vacationing in England and will put on a tie and officially present the fish to the mayor May 4.
The Free Press reports chefs will consult an old recipe for the occasion:
One traditional 15th-Century recipe calls for the creature to be cooked in a sauce of wine, vinegar, cinnamon and its own blood, then baked in a tall crust... [Marc]Gaden said he doesn't plan to eat any.
The BBC and the Free Press both report that no one can predict whether the Queen will partake in a piece of lamprey pie, or simply quietly admire it.
The BBC has a video about the Gloucester tradition of lamprey pie baking.
For more on how the sea lamprey snuck into the Lakes, check out "The Earliest Invader," a piece David Sommerstein did for the Environment Report's Ten Threats to the Great Lakes series.
