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OYSTERS (a la Villeroi)
Blanch twenty-four large oysters in their own liquor for two minutes, and drain them. Take some chicken forcemeat, spread it over both sides of the oysters, dip them in egg and fresh bread-crumbs, then fry them in hot lard for three minutes. Serve with fried parsley.
A straightforward fried-oyster dish whose success hinges on not overcooking the oysters twice. The two-minute blanch and the three-minute fry are both close to the limit.
- Blanch briefly, then stopTwo minutes in their own liquor is enough to firm the oysters so they will hold a coating; heat them until the edges just ruffle. Any longer and they shrink and turn rubbery, and they still face three minutes in hot fat.
- Save the liquorStrain the blanching liquor through muslin to remove grit and keep it. It is the natural base for a velouté or allemande to serve alongside, and the classic Villeroi treatment is built on exactly that kind of sauce.
- Chicken forcemeatVictorian chicken forcemeats varied: some are pounded breast meat bound with egg and cream, others are bound with a panada or with suet and breadcrumbs, seasoned with salt, white pepper and a little mace or nutmeg. Whichever is used, it should be stiff enough to spread and cling, not slack. Something in the region of 6 oz would cover two dozen oysters, though the recipe specifies no quantity.
- Chill before crumbingSpread the forcemeat, then refrigerate the coated oysters for 20-30 minutes before egging and crumbing. Warm farce slides off in the fryer; cold farce sets in place and the crust stays intact.
- Fresh bread-crumbsCrumbs from a day-old white loaf, not dried packet crumbs. They give a pale, even coat. Press them on firmly and shake off the excess.
- The frying fatLard is authentic and takes the heat well; a neutral oil is a workable substitute. The recipe says only 'hot lard' and does not specify depth or temperature; around 350-360F is a reasonable modern reading. Three minutes at that heat suits the raw forcemeat, which needs to cook through, whereas hotter fat will colour the crumbs before the farce sets.
- Fried parsleyDry curly parsley sprigs thoroughly, or the water will spit violently in the fat. A few seconds in the same oil turns them crisp and dark green; drain on paper and salt lightly.
- YieldTwenty-four oysters serves four as a first course, six on a mixed hors d'oeuvre plate. Best eaten within minutes of frying, with lemon.
Anything à la Villeroi means the same thing in classical French cookery: an item cooked, coated in something thick enough to set firm around it, then crumbed and deep-fried, so it arrives with a crisp shell and a soft interior. The name is generally traced to the Villeroy family of French marshals and courtiers under Louis XIV and XV, though as with most such attributions the connection is traditional rather than documented. Escoffier and his contemporaries used a reduced allemande sauce for the coating; Cassell's substitutes a chicken forcemeat, which is easier for a domestic kitchen to handle and does much the same job.