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Oyster Patties (Good oyster patty shell may be)
A good oyster patty shell may be obtained by merely omitting the sugar from recipe for Rosette Wafers.
This is a cross-reference rather than a full recipe: the shell is the Rosette Wafer batter fried on a rosette iron, with the sugar left out so it can carry a savoury filling. To use it you need the wafer recipe in front of you and a rosette iron.
- What a rosette iron isA cast-iron or aluminium form on a long handle, dipped in hot fat, then into thin batter, then back into the fat, where the crisp shell releases itself. They are still sold, often in sets with star, flower and cup shapes; the deeper cup form is the one to use for patties.
- Fat temperature is the hingeDeep-fat frying guides for rosettes generally recommend fat around 365-375F. Too cool and the batter tends to sit heavy and soak oil; too hot and the shell colours before it sets. Preheat the iron in the fat for a few seconds before each dip, and let the batter come only to the top edge of the form, never over it, or the rosette will lock onto the iron.
- Adjusting the batterRemoving the sugar will give a slightly less tender, less quick-browning shell, which suits a savoury filling. Keep the salt.
- Batter consistencyRosette batter should be about the thickness of thin cream and pours in a ribbon. If it clings thickly to the iron the shells will be heavy; thin it with a spoonful of milk at a time.
- The oyster fillingThe book leaves the filling to you. A common approach is oysters warmed in their own liquor with butter and a little flour or cream until the edges just ruffle, a matter of two to three minutes. Long simmering makes oysters rubbery.
- Assemble at the last minuteShells this thin go soft within minutes of meeting a wet filling. Fry them ahead, drain on paper, hold uncovered at room temperature or re-crisp them briefly in a low oven, and fill only as they go to the table.
- Yield and servingYield depends entirely on the size of the iron and the quantity of wafer batter made. Reckon two or three filled shells per person as a first course or luncheon dish.
Rosette wafers came into North American cooking through Scandinavian households, where the iron-dipped fried cake is known as rosett or struva and belongs to Christmas baking; the technique is a cousin of the older European batter fried on a decorative iron. Their appearance here shows how thoroughly the form had been absorbed into general use by the early twentieth century. The trick of pulling the sugar out and treating the shell as a savoury case is a thrifty bit of kitchen logic of the sort these promotional cookbooks specialised in: one iron, one batter, two dishes. Oyster patties themselves were a fixture of turn-of-the-century entertaining, when barrelled oysters travelled by rail, and by some accounts cheaply enough that a filling of them was closer to everyday company food than to luxury.