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Rich Oyster Soup
Take two quarts of the fish stock. Beat the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, and the hard parts of two quarts of oysters in a mortar, and add this to the stock. Let it simmer for thirty to thirty-five minutes, add the rest of the oysters, and simmer five minutes. Then beat the yolks of six fresh eggs and add to the soup, stirring all one way until it is thick and smooth, keeping it hot, but not quite boiling, say at about 197 to 200 degrees. Then serve at once.
A late-Victorian oyster soup thickened with egg yolk rather than flour or cream. Everything hinges on the finish: the yolks must set as a liaison without scrambling.
- The temperature is the whole recipe197-200F is a specific, deliberate instruction and it is close to the edge. Yolks in liquid begin to thicken around 160-170F and will curdle if the soup breaks into a boil. Beat the yolks with a ladleful of hot soup first, return the mixture off the heat, and use a thermometer rather than judging by eye.
- "Hard parts" of the oysterThis means the tough adductor muscle, the pale disc that anchors the oyster to its shell. Period recipes often direct that it be cut away; here it is pounded for flavour rather than discarded. Modern shucked oysters usually arrive with it attached; trim it off as you go and set it aside for the base.
- Two quarts of oystersShucked, this is roughly 4 lb, or something like 50-60 medium oysters, with their liquor. That is a very large quantity by present prices; halving the whole recipe is reasonable and changes nothing structurally.
- Mortar means processorThe pounded yolks and oyster muscle are a thickener and flavour base. A small food processor or a stick blender in a jug does the same work in seconds. Pass the simmered base through a sieve before the finish if you want a smooth soup.
- The second addition of oystersFive minutes is longer than needed. Plump oysters are done when the edges just ruffle, one to two minutes in liquid at a bare simmer, and they toughen quickly after that. Add them, count the minute, then go straight to the yolks.
- Stirring "all one way"A common Victorian instruction with no chemical basis, but the underlying advice is sound: stir steadily and gently rather than whisking hard, so the liaison sets smoothly and the oysters stay whole.
- Fish stockThe recipe assumes a stock made elsewhere in the book. A light stock from white fish bones or shells suits it; a heavy or salty commercial stock will overwhelm the oysters, whose own liquor should be strained in as part of the two quarts.
- Yield and serviceThe pot holds something close to four quarts, so this serves a dozen or more as a first course. Reheating is risky, since the yolk liaison can break, so it is best made to the table.
Oyster soups fill the American cookbooks of the nineteenth century because oysters were cheap, abundant and shipped inland by rail and barrel in large volume; a Chesapeake or Long Island oyster was everyday food for many people before it became a luxury. What makes this one "rich" is not cream but the egg liaison, a technique found in the English and French white soups, in which beaten yolks are stirred into hot broth just below the boil to give body and gloss. The use of the tough adductor muscles, pounded with hard-boiled yolk, does put to work a part of the oyster that was often discarded.