This is one of the oldest Venetian recipes, and to be more exact a specialty of Murano where it was cooked on the red-hot furnace stones.
Open and clean eel and make two parallel cuts (one on each side with a distance between the two of 6-7 cm). Cover the bottom of a large pot (preferably of terracotta) with bayleaves and arrange the eel on top, circling it around itself. Season with salt and peppercorns and cover with another layer of bayleaves.
Let cook, adding nothing else, as the eel meat will cook in its own fat. Tradition has it that it should be cooked over hot coals in the glass furnaces, but alternatively you can use a high oven for about 25 minutes.