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STEWED OYSTERS
Remove all bits of shell from a half dozen fresh, select oysters, place in a colander, pour over a tea-cup of water, drain, place liquor, drained off in a porcelain-lined sauce-pan, let come to boiling point, skim well; ; pour off into another heated dish, all except the last spoonful which will contain sediment and bits of shell which may have been overlooked, wipe out sauce-pan, return liquor, add oysters, let come to the boiling point, add a small lump of good butter, a tea-spoon of cracker-dust, a very little cayenne pepper and salt, and a half tea-cup fresh, sweet cream.
An invalid's portion of stewed oysters, written for a coal range and a porcelain-lined pan. The method is sound; only the cooking time needs watching.
- The hinge: do not let it boil twiceOysters are done the moment their edges ruffle, roughly one to two minutes in hot liquor. "Let come to the boiling point" twice, as written, will shrink them to erasers; bring the liquor to a simmer, drop the oysters in, and pull the pan the instant they plump.
- Cream goes in off the heatAdd the half tea-cup of cream at the end and warm it through without a bubble. Oyster liquor is salty and slightly acidic, and cream held at a boil in it can break or curdle.
- Tea-cupA nineteenth-century tea-cup in American receipt books runs between a half and three-quarters of a modern cup, and the size is not standardised. Treat the cup of rinsing water as approximate; for the cream, start with about 1/3 cup and judge by thickness.
- Cracker-dustFinely crushed soda or water crackers, used as a light thickener. A rounded teaspoon of cracker crumbs or unseasoned saltine dust does the same job; it should thicken faintly, not turn the liquor pasty.
- "Select" oystersIn the shucked-oyster trade a grade meaning medium-large, though in a receipt of this date it may mean no more than choice, hand-picked oysters. Shucked oysters from a tub will do; drain and reserve every drop of the liquor, since that is the whole flavour base here.
- Porcelain-lined sauce-panThe period's term for a non-reactive vessel. Enamelled cast iron or stainless steel is the equivalent; bare aluminium or unlined copper will pick up a metallic taste from the salty liquor.
- The double decantingBoiling the liquor, skimming, then pouring it off and leaving the last spoonful behind is a grit-removal step, not fussiness. Shucked oysters carry sand and shell chips that settle fast. A fine strainer or a coffee filter does it in one pass.
- Yield and serviceHalf a dozen oysters makes a single small bowl. Serve immediately with dry toast or crackers; it does not hold or reheat.
- One caveat about the invalidOne caveat -- Raw or barely-cooked oysters are not a safe food for anyone immunocompromised, pregnant, or with liver disease. Cooking them through greatly reduces that risk, so the advice above to pull the pan the instant they plump should be weighed against it for such readers.
"Food for the Sick" is a standard department in American household manuals of the 1870s and 80s, and this version reflects the era's belief that oysters were among the most digestible of animal foods, suitable for anyone too weak for meat. Cheap rail and barrel shipment of Chesapeake oysters had by then put them on tables far inland, and shucked oysters could be had by the can or the quart through the winter months. The care lavished here on straining and skimming the liquor is a reminder of what that trade delivered: oysters that had travelled in their own juice, grit and shell fragments included. The dish belongs to a family of gentle, cream-thickened invalid preparations, alongside beef tea, gruel and milk toast, whose common principle was to concentrate flavour and nourishment into something a patient could swallow in a few spoonfuls.