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Oysters, Broiled in Their Shells
Take a dozen oysters, open them, and leave them in the deep shell. Place a little butter upon each, with a pinch of salt and cayenne, and half a tea-spoonful of lemon-juice. Put the shells on the gridiron, over a clear but not fierce fire, and broil them for three minutes. Serve them neatly arranged on a folded napkin. If preferred, the oysters may be bearded, and warmed for a minute or two in a stewpan, with an ounce of butter and a table-spoonful of chopped parsley, before they are put into the shells. Or the shells may be washed, and laid closed upon the gridiron, the deep side to the fire; when the shells open wide, the oysters are done enough. Serve with bread and butter. Probable cost, 1s. 6d. to 3s. per dozen. Sufficient for one or two persons.
A three-minute recipe whose only real difficulty is heat management and keeping the liquor in the shell. Three methods are given in one paragraph: shuck and broil, pre-warm and refill, or roast the closed shell until it gapes.
- Gridiron equivalentsA gridiron is a grate set over live coals. A charcoal or gas grill grate is the direct descendant; indoors, a preheated cast-iron pan or a broiler rack about 4 inches below a hot element gives the same effect. "Clear but not fierce" means coals burnt down past the flaming stage, no smoke, moderate radiant heat.
- Keep the shells levelThe instruction to leave the oyster in the deep shell only works if the liquor stays put. Set the shells on a bed of crumpled foil or coarse rock salt in a tray; tipped shells lose the butter and juice and the oyster scorches.
- Three minutes is rightThe edges should just ruffle and the butter bubble. Oysters go firm and rubbery within a minute or two beyond that; the recipe likewise limits the pre-warmed version to "a minute or two" in the stewpan.
- BeardingThe beard is the frilled gill fringe around the oyster's edge. It is trimmed off with scissors mainly for texture and appearance; it is entirely edible and is often left on.
- The closed-shell methodWashing the shells and laying them deep side down works, but the oyster steams in its own liquor rather than taking on butter, and the shells can spit and occasionally crack. Take them off the moment they gape wide.
- Cayenne and saltOyster liquor is already saline, so the pinch of salt is easy to overdo. Season the butter first and taste it rather than salting each shell blind.
- QuantitiesAn ounce of butter is about 2 tablespoons. Half a teaspoon of lemon juice per oyster comes to about 6 teaspoons, or 2 tablespoons, across a dozen -- roughly the juice of a whole small lemon.
- Cost and yieldThe 1s. 6d. to 3s. a dozen is the price the book gives; at that rate oysters were a middling rather than a cheap food. A dozen serves one as a light supper or two as a first course, as stated.
- BuyingUse live oysters with tightly closed shells that feel heavy for their size, and discard any that stay open when tapped. Three minutes over coals, or a shell just gaping, will not necessarily heat every oyster right through, so the usual cautions for lightly cooked shellfish still apply.
Broiling or roasting oysters in the shell over coals is far older than any cookbook that records it. The folded napkin may serve a function as much as decoration: it steadies the rocking shells and absorbs the spilt liquor on their way to the table. Cayenne with oysters was a fixed Victorian pairing, generally traced to the same taste for pepper and lemon that governed devilled dishes across the period.