Oyster Soup
To one quart, or twenty-five oysters, add a half pint of water. Put the oysters on the fire in the liquor. The moment it begins to simmer (not boil, for that would shrivel the oysters), pour it through a colander into a hot dish, leaving the oysters in the colander. Now put into the saucepan two tablespoonfuls of butter, when it bubbles, sprinkle in a tablespoonful of sifted flour; let the soup cook a few moments, beating it well with the egg-whisk; then add to it gradually the oyster juice, and half a pint of good cream (which has been brought to a boil in another vessel), add the oysters, season carefully with cayenne pepper and salt. An oyster soup is made with thickening; an oyster stew is made without it.