No. 2225

Oyster Brochettes

Brochettes aux Huitres

Poach lightly some large oysters in their own liquor, dry them on a cloth, pare, and lay them in a deep plate, season and mix them with some fine herbs cooked with truffles (No. 385) and a pinch of sweet peppers; cover the oysters with oil, and roll them in this seasoning. Run them one by one on small skewers (Fig. 176), alternating each with slices of cooked mushrooms; brush them over with melted butter, roll them in bread-crumbs and broil them for six or seven minutes, turning them frequently, then dress them at once.

Brochettes the same as the above are prepared by wrapping each seasoned oyster in a thin slice of bacon, or else alternating each oyster with a square of bacon; run the skewers through both and cook them over a hot fire.

← No. 2224 Brochettes of Lobsters Miscellaneous Entrées No. 2226 Brochettes of Sweetbreads →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer assumes a coal broiler, a stocked garde-manger and a cook who knows that an oyster is ruined by thirty seconds too long. Two of those you can work around.

The hinge: barely poachBring the oysters up in their own liquor only until the edges ruffle, about 30 to 45 seconds, then lift them out. They finish cooking on the skewer, and an oyster that is firm before it reaches the fire will be rubber after it.
"Pare" the oystersThis means trimming the ragged frill and any bit of tough adductor muscle so the oysters sit evenly on the skewer. Dry them properly on a cloth as well or the crumbs will not hold.
Fine herbs cooked with truffles (No. 385)Ranhofer's cross-reference is to a separate preparation of cooked herbs with truffle; consult No. 385 for its actual composition rather than assuming one. Finely chopped mushroom with shallot and parsley, and a little truffle oil or paste if you have it, stands in without embarrassment.
"A pinch of sweet peppers"Most likely a mild ground red pepper such as paprika rather than fresh bell pepper, though the term is not certain.
Oil and crumbsA mild olive oil for the marinade; fine dry white crumbs, not panko, which browns unevenly on so small a piece. Press the crumbs on firmly after the butter or they slide off in turning.
Broiling timeSix or seven minutes suits a solid-fuel grill; under a modern gas or electric broiler set close, or on a very hot grill, 3 to 4 minutes total may be enough, turning often, and stop when the crumbs are gold.
The bacon variationModern streaky bacon may be thicker and wetter than what Ranhofer had, and may not render in the time the oysters need. Par-cook the slices until limp and just beginning to give up fat before wrapping.
Skewers and yieldWooden skewers should be soaked half an hour; short metal ones are truer to the original figure. Five or six oysters to a skewer, one skewer per person as an entrée in a longer menu, two if it is the main business.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's summing-up of some thirty years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this entry shows how the house treated oysters at the height of their American cheapness: not as a raw luxury but as small change to be dressed in truffle, breadcrumb and fire. Brochette cookery — meat threaded on a skewer and grilled — is old and near-universal, but the French restaurant version Ranhofer follows is a fussy, garde-manger affair in which the skewer arrives at the table still on the plate, a piece of theatre in its own right. The bacon variant at the end belongs to the same family as angels on horseback, the oyster-and-bacon savoury that ran through Anglo-American entertaining well into the twentieth century.