On several occasions during a life devoted to devouring oysters on the half shell whenever and wherever possible, I have come upon a pearl. Minute in size, milky and unpolished, they barely distract me from my quest, which is to consume the bivalve with which said pearl shares the shell while it still is chilled and quivering.
Few foods possess such primal appeal. “You are eating the sea; that’s it!” exclaims the late novelist Eleanor Clark in her classic book, “The Oysters of Locmariaquer.” Luckily, despite the seemingly insatiable appetites of humans and various sea creatures, our gluttonous feasting has not brought the oyster to the point of extinction. (Pollution may do the job someday, however.)
Despite reports of scattered sightings as early as the 1ate 1830s, fresh oysters in the shell were virtually unknown in Chicago before the development of the refrigerated boxcar in the late 1860s. After that they came from Virginia and New York by the trainload when the season for harvesting them opened each September. The oyster reached its high watermark here in the last decade of the 19th Century. At least half a dozen restaurants known as “oyster houses” vied for the carriage trade with a variety of preparations. (In 1893, there were 42 raw and cooked oyster menu items at the Boston Oyster House, and 30 at nearby Rector’s.)
In the last decade, oysters have staged a comeback. Varieties from beds on both coasts and abroad are at a good many restaurants, most notably Shaw’s Crab House, which sponsors an annual Roister with the Oyster festival in the fall.
Eating them in their pristine raw form is an epiphany for many oyster lovers. “Why should anyone need a recipe (for oysters)?” Washington Post food editor Phyllis Richman once wrote. For variety, perhaps, and because this gossamer taste of the sea marries so beautifully with other foods, as you will learn when you prepare the recipes that follow.
BROILED OYSTERS WITH RADISHES AND BUTTER SAUCE
Four servings
1 tablespoon butter
10 fat radishes, trimmed and cut in julienne
16 large oysters or 32 small oysters*
16 drops Tabasco sauce
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup dry vermouth
3 shallots, or 4 scallion bulbs, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons cold butter
*Purchase oysters in the shell and shuck them, or have the fishmonger shuck them. Reserve juice and the 16 deeper half shells.
1. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a small pan and saute the radishes until they bleed and are just lightly cooked, about 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape oysters from the shell, if necessary, and pour the juice in a small saucepan. Spread the radishes in the bottom of half of the emptied shells (if there is any remaining radish juice, put it in the small saucepan, too) and place the oysters on top (2 to a shell, if they are small); shake a drop of Tabasco over each oyster. Mix the bread crumbs with the parsley, and sprinkle over the oysters. Broil 5 to 6 minutes, until browned on top.
2. Make a butter sauce: Add the vermouth, shallots and lemon juice to the juices in the small saucepan and boil them down to 1 tablespoon. Whisk in the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, until you have a smooth sauce. Spoon a little of the sauce over the broiled oysters.
–From “The Book of New New England Cookery” by
Judith and Evan Jones (University Press of New England)
OYSTER SURPRISE
Four servings
12 shucked small oysters
1/2 cup corn flour
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Cayenne pepper
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 eggs
2 tablespoons cream
Tabasco
4 3 1/2-inch brioches
Herb sprigs
1. Remove the oysters from the shells and pat dry, reserving the liquor for another use. Dip the oysters in flour seasoned with salt, pepper and cayenne.
2. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a skillet and saute the oysters over moderately high heat, browning both sides quickly. Set oysters on absorbent paper.
3. Beat eggs and cream in a bowl, but do not homogenize. Season with pepper, Tabasco and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
4. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large heavy-bottom skillet over low heat, add the eggs and stir with a large fork until the eggs begin to thicken. Add the oysters and lightly stir until the eggs begin to solidify. Remove from the heat.
5. Remove the lid from each brioche and hollow it out. Place the bottoms on heated plates and fill each with the scrambled eggs and oysters. Replace the lids and serve immediately with a garnish of herb sprigs.
–From “Oysters: A Culinary Celebration” by
Joan Reardon (The Lyons Press)
