Scrambled Eggs with Oysters

The text as printed breaks off mid-sentence after the anchovy butter, so what follows is guidance for the dish as the chafing-dish books of the period built it: anchovy butter melted in the pan, oysters warmed in their own liquor, beaten eggs stirred in over gentle heat. Anyone cooking from this page will need a complete version for quantities.

• The hinge: heatScrambled eggs with oysters must be stirred over the lowest heat you can manage, and taken off the flame entirely at the end so the residual heat finishes them. Over a brisk direct heat the curd tightens and the oysters weep. The page as printed does not say what vessel or heat source was intended.
• Oyster timingOysters need only about two minutes, just until the edges ruffle; long simmering makes them rubbery. Drain them first and add the liquor separately, or the eggs will stay loose.
• Anchovy pasteStill sold in tubes, and unchanged in character: salty, fishy, faintly sweet from the cure. Two tablespoons of butter to one of paste is a strong ratio, so add no further salt until the eggs are on the plate.
• Creaming the butterThe butter must be soft, not melted, for the paste to disperse evenly. Melted butter and paste separate into a slick with grit in it. Cream them cold, then melt the compound in the pan.
• Bread and toastDishes of this sort were often served on toast or in pastry cases, which absorb the liquor the oysters release. The recipe as printed says nothing about what it was served on.
• Buying oystersUse shucked oysters from a reputable fishmonger, refrigerated and within their date. Warmed briefly in butter they are barely cooked, so the quality of the oyster is doing most of the work.