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Rump Steak, Stewed, with Oysters
Take a slice of rump steak three-quarters of an inch thick, weighing about two and a quarter pounds. Rub this well on both sides with a savoury mixture made of minced onions, three salt-spoonfuls of salt, and as much summer savoury as will lie on a sixpence, then fry it in hot fat till lightly browned. Lay it in a saucepan with three-quarters of a pint of water, and add a clove, two allspice, a blade of mace, and the liquor from two dozen oysters. Cover the saucepan closely, and let the steak simmer gently till tender. Take out the meat, strain the gravy, and thicken with a little brown thickening or flour and butter. Let it boil till smooth. Put back the steak and the oysters bearded, let them simmer for five minutes, and then serve. They must on no account boil. Time, one and a half to two hours. Probable cost, rump steak, 1s. 4d. to 1s. 6d. per pound. Sufficient for five or six persons.
A Victorian braise in which oysters act as seasoning as much as garnish, contributing their liquor to the gravy and going in only at the very end. The instructions are sound; most of what needs translating is units and cuts.
- The hinge: the oystersThey go in for five minutes at a bare simmer, and the original is right to insist they must not boil. Even five minutes is generous — two to three minutes in gravy held just below a shiver is enough to plump them, after which they toughen and shrink.
- Bearded oysters"Bearded" means the frilly gill fringe has been trimmed away with scissors or fingernails. Shucked oysters sold in tubs may or may not still carry the frill, so check; strain and reserve their packing liquor, which is what the recipe is really after.
- Liquid measuresThree-quarters of a pint is 15 fl oz imperial, about 1¾ US cups. The liquor from two dozen oysters is variable, perhaps another ½ to ¾ cup, so expect somewhere around 2¼ to 2½ cups of braising liquid in total.
- Small measuresA salt-spoonful is about ¼ teaspoon, so three is a scant ¾ teaspoon of salt. "As much summer savoury as will lie on a sixpence" — a coin about ¾ inch across — is a generous pinch, call it ¼ teaspoon of the dried herb.
- Brown thickeningA Victorian kitchen standby: flour cooked in butter or dripping until it takes colour, kept ready in a jar. Making a small brown roux fresh and whisking it into the strained gravy gives the same result; the flour-and-butter alternative the recipe offers is likely beurre manié, butter and flour worked together, though it may equally mean a plain roux.
- The cutBritish rump is the top of the sirloin, closer to US top sirloin than to US rump roast. A ¾-inch slice of it may not come out as tender as a dedicated stewing cut; a thick-cut chuck or blade steak of the same weight suits the method well.
- Whole spicesA blade of mace is one strip of the lacy aril around nutmeg; a good pinch of ground mace substitutes. Both it and the clove and allspice berries are strained out before the gravy is thickened, so no need to tie them in muslin unless you prefer to.
- Time and yieldNinety minutes to two hours at the gentlest simmer, lid on, checking that the liquid never breaks into a rolling boil. Five or six portions, as stated, though that assumes the Victorian pattern of several dishes at table.
Beef and oysters were a standard Victorian pairing, and the reason was as much economic as luxurious: for much of the nineteenth century oysters were plentiful and comparatively cheap in Britain, sold by the barrel and used much as one might now use anchovy or mushroom — as a source of savoury depth, though prices were already climbing by the 1870s. Their liquor here does the same work a stock cube might, and the bearded oysters at the end are a garnish that also seasons. The entry states the governing principle outright: a braise is held below the boil, and delicate protein added at the close. The pairing survives in steak and oyster pudding and in older versions of steak and kidney pie, and by the early twentieth century overfishing and pollution of the English beds had pushed oyster prices up and quietly removed them from most household cookery.