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Oyster Bisque
Add enough cold water to the liquor drained from a quart of oysters to make a quart. Chop the oysters fine, and stir into this. Place in a porcelain-lined saucepan and cook gently for twenty minutes. Have ready a quart of heated milk, in which a pinch of soda has been dissolved, and 1/2 a cupful of cracker crumbs, soaked, and 1/2 a cupful of cracker crumbs, soaked. Cook 2 tablespoonfuls of butter and 2 of flour until they become perfectly blended; then pour upon them the quart of thickened boiling milk. Stir until it becomes thick and creamy. Now turn in the oyster soup, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Pour a cupful of the soup upon the well-beaten yolks of 2 eggs, stirring constantly. When thoroughly mixed, place back in the saucepan, stir for a moment, and pour at once into a heated tureen.
A straightforward cream soup built on oyster liquor, thickened with roux, cracker crumbs and egg yolk. The two things to watch are the long cook on the oysters and the egg finish.
- Cook the oysters far lessTwenty minutes of simmering turns chopped oysters to rubber. Bring the liquor and water to a simmer, add the chopped oysters, and give them two to three minutes; their flavour is already in the liquor.
- The egg liaison must not boilOnce the yolks go in, the soup is held below a simmer. Temper with a cupful of hot soup first, as directed, return it to the pan, and stir over low heat for under a minute. A boil will curdle it into threads.
- The pinch of sodaA period habit meant to keep milk from curdling against the acidity and salt of the oyster liquor. It is optional now; too much gives a soapy taste and dulls the colour. A pinch means well under 1/8 teaspoon for a quart.
- Cracker crumbsSoda or water crackers, crushed and soaked until soft; the recipe does not say in what, though a little of the hot milk is the obvious choice. Unsalted saltines or plain water biscuits are the closest substitute; they thicken and add body. The recipe only says to have them ready alongside the milk, so the point at which they go in is left to the cook.
- Porcelain-lined saucepanThe original avoids bare iron or copper, which discolours and taints oyster liquor and milk. Any stainless or enamelled pan does the same job.
- Strain the liquorOyster liquor almost always carries shell grit. Pour it through a fine sieve or a coffee filter before making up the quart with water.
- Butter and flourTwo tablespoons each cooks to a blond roux in two or three minutes. Add the hot milk gradually and off the boil to keep it smooth.
- YieldRoughly two quarts, serving six to eight as a first course. Serve at once; it does not hold or reheat well after the yolks are in.