Home › D › Darioles of Oysters
Darioles of Oysters
INGREDIENTS for sufficient to fill 3 or 4 dariole moulds.-2 oz. of flour, 2 eggs, 1 oz. of butter, 1/24 pint of milk, 1 dozen oysters, seasoning of nutmeg, cayenne, salt and lemon-juice. AVERAGE COST, 1s. 6d.
Beard the oysters and scald them in their own liquor, after which strain and cut each oyster in four pieces. Put the flour and butter in a saucepan with the liquor from the oysters and the milk, and stir till boiling point is reached, when add the seasoning (this dish should be well flavoured), and the eggs previously well beaten. Put in the oysters just long enough to heat them thoroughly, then pour the mixture into well-buttered dariole moulds, and steam gently for about 20 minutes.
TIME.-20 minutes.
SEASONABLE from September to May.
Dark Sauce (for Game, Fish, Cutlets and other entrées). - INGREDIENTS.- An onion, 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, an ounce of butter, 1/2 pint of stock or gravy, one glass of port or sherry, 2 tablespoonfuls of black currant jam or jelly, 1 tablespoonful of vinegar, 2 or 3 bay-leaves, a few cloves, lemon-peel, salt, pepper, and a teaspoonful of chili vinegar, or some cayenne for seasoning. AVERAGE COST, 9d. per pint. Chop the onion, and put it with the flour and butter in a saucepan to brown. Add the stock with a small piece of lemon-peel and the other ingredients, and when well mixed, boil for about 5 minutes and strain.
Serve hot with poultry, &c TIME.-5 minutes to boil the sauce.
SEASONABLE at any time.
Note. This is a nice sauce to serve with warmed-up poultry or game, and has the advantage of being easily and quickly made with ingredients that are generally at hand in. an ordinary household.
DECEMBER, DINNERS FOR. 116 DECEMBER, DINNERS FOR.
December-Dinner for Twelve Persons.
MENU. (English.) Quantity. Average MENU. (French.) Caviare.
Consommé de Gibier.
Doret.
Filets de Soles.
Salmis de Canards Sauvages.
Crême de Volaille. 8. d.
Caviare. 2 dishes. 16 Game Soup. 5 pints. 76 John Dory. 2 fish. 60 Filleted Soles. 2 pairs. 40 Salmi of Wild Duck.
Chicken Cream. 2 dishes. 66 2 mlds. 70 1 joint. 10 6 4 lbs. ea. 10 12 birds. 15 0 2 dishes. 60 2 mlds. 40 £390 December-Dinner for Ten Persons.
Saddle of Mutton.
Potatoes. Brussels Sprouts.
Snipe.
Benedictine Soufflé.
Golden Jelly.
Selle de Mouton.
Pommes de Terre. Choux.
Bécassines.
Soufflé à la Benedictine.
Gelée Dorée.
MENU. (English.) Quantity. Average Cost. 8. d. 2 quarts 20 46 46 1 fish. 2 turs. 10 Gravy Soup.
Brill, Shrimp Sauce.
Scalloped Oysters.
Mutton Cutlets. 10 shells 2 dishes. 30 70 1 bird. 90 1 70 31b.3hd. 10 2 26 1 40 2 mlds. 36 £2 46 Roast Turkey.
Ham.
Potatoes. Stewed Celery.
Russian Salad.
Plum Pudding.
Maraschino Jelly.
MENU. (French.) Bouillon.
Barbue, Sauce aux Crevettes.
Huîtres à la Poulette.
Côtélettes de Mouton.
Dindonneau Roti.
Jambon.
Pommes de Terre.
Céleri.
Salade à la Russe.
Pouding à la Valentia.
Gelée au Maraschino.
December-Dinner for Eight Persons.
MENU. (English.) Quantity. Average Mulligatawny Soup.
Cod's Head and Shoulders, Oyster Sauce. 8. d. 3 pints. 3 2 Pâté de Foie Gras in Aspic Jelly. 1 mould.
Stewed Sweetbreads.
Sirloin of Beef, Horseradish Sauce.
Potatoes. Artichokes. 4 lbs. 20 2 turs. 30 36 1 dish. 40 1 joint. 86 1 tur. 06 3lbs.ea. 09 2 birds. 60 1 dish. 20 Cheese Straws. 1 dish. £1 15 7 Black Game.
Banana Fritters.
Mince Pies.
MENU. (French.) Soupe de l'Inde.
Cabillaud, Sauce aux Huîtres.
Pâté de Foie Gras en Aspic.
Ris de Veau.
Aloyau, Sauce Raifort.
Pommes de Terre. Artichauts.
Coqs de Bruyère.
Beignets de Bananas.
Mince Pies.
Pailles de Parmesan.
DECEMBER, DINNERS FOR. 117 DECEMBER, DINNERS FOR.
December-Dinners for from Six to Twelve Persons.
Menur MEN Mock Turtle Soup.
Brill, Lobster Sauce.
Stewed Artichokes.
Hashed Game.
Sirloin of Beef.
Potatoes.
Scotch Kale.
Exeter Pudding.
Orange Jelly.
Cheese.
Oxtail Soup.
Soles with Cream Sauce.
Stuffed Tomatoes.
Beef Olives.
Leg of Mutton.
Potatoes.
Broccoli.
Pheasants.
Charlotte Russe.
Puff-paste Rings.
Lemon Cream.
MENU Julienne.
Brill, Shrimp Sauce.
Stewed Pigeons Saddle of Mutton.
Potatoes.
Stewed Celery.
Salad.
Plum Pudding.
Trifle.
MEMI Oyster Soup.
Turbot, Tartare Sauce.
Vol-au-Vent of Chic Sirloin of Beef.
Potatoes.
Cabbage.
Partridges.
Amber Pudding.
Mince Pies.
DECEMBER, DINNERS FOR. 118 DECEMBER, DINNER TABLE.
December-Plain Family Dinners for.
No. 1.
Sunday. Roast ribs of beef, boned and rolled, horseradish sauce, potatoes, Brussels sprouts.-Mince pies, plain apple charlotte.
A savoury oyster custard steamed in small moulds, served as an entrée course. The panada base is thick, so the balance of liquid matters more than anything else here.
- The milk quantity is corrupt"1/24 pint of milk" is not a usable measure and is presumably a misreading of a simple fraction (1/4 pint, 5 fl oz / 150 ml, or possibly 1/2 pint). Treat the printed figure as unusable and judge by consistency: the mixture should be a thick, spoonable panada before the eggs go in.
- Dariole mouldsSmall straight-sided tapered metal moulds of about 3 fl oz. Individual pudding basins, dariole tins or metal timbale moulds of similar capacity work; butter them heavily and line the base with a disc of buttered paper.
- Beard the oystersThe beard is the dark frilled mantle edge, which stays tough. Cut it away with scissors, and reserve every drop of the liquor, which is the main seasoning in the dish.
- Scald means seconds, not minutesBring the oysters just to the point where the edges curl in their own liquor, then lift them straight out. They cook again in the steamer, and any real simmering at this stage leaves them rubbery.
- Add the eggs off the heatBeeton has you stir the beaten eggs into a mixture that has reached boiling point. Draw the pan off the heat first and beat them in, or the eggs will scramble and the darioles will be granular rather than set smooth.
- SteamingCover each mould with buttered paper or foil, stand them in a pan of gently simmering water reaching halfway up, and keep the water at a bare tremble for about 20 minutes. A rolling boil makes the custards rise, honeycomb and then collapse.
- SeasoningThe instruction that this dish be "well flavoured" is meant seriously: a bland oyster custard is very bland indeed. Nutmeg, cayenne and lemon juice all need to be assertive, and salt should be judged after the oyster liquor is in, since it is already saline.
- Yield and serviceThree or four moulds, so a first course for three or four rather than the eight of the menu heading. Turn out, and serve hot with a white or oyster sauce; the Dark Sauce printed alongside is intended for game and warmed-up poultry, not for these.
Darioles began in medieval and early modern cookery as small pastry cases filled with sweet custard, and the name survived into the nineteenth century attached mainly to the mould rather than the pastry, so that by Beeton's day a dariole could be any small moulded shape, sweet or savoury. The savoury version belongs to the late-Victorian and Edwardian fashion for individually moulded entrées, timbales, creams and mousses, which let a household with a modest kitchen send out something that looked like restaurant service. The oysters explain the December heading: cheap, abundant and eaten in enormous quantities in Britain before the beds were exhausted and prices climbed, they turn up all over these winter menus as soup, sauce, scallops and here as a moulded cream. The "seasonable from September to May" note is the old rule of avoiding oysters in the spawning months, the source of the surviving folk advice about months with an R.