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By Root 1082 0

steadily until you have a thick-looking sauce. Taste occasionally. If there is a lot of oyster liquor, you may need extra cream – alternatively you can stir in some extra unsalted butter at the end. The sauce should be strong but not belligerent. Add the cayenne or Tabasco, seasoning as required and add a few drops of lemon juice if you like.

Place the oysters in the sauce and heat briefly. Divide them between the crisp brioches or baps, replace the lids, garnish with samphire and julienne strips of carrot, and serve, sprinkled with cayenne.

OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER

This famous dish is said to have been invented at Antoine’s, the famous New Orleans restaurant, at the end of the last century. Some inspired customer is said to have remarked that the oysters stuffed in this particular way were ‘as rich as Rockefeller’.

Serves 4–6

4 dozen oysters, opened

125 g (4 oz) butter

8 slices crisply cooked bacon, crushed

2 handfuls of spinach, finely chopped

3 tablespoons chopped parsley

3 tablespoons chopped celery leaves

3 tablespoons chopped spring onion

6 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs

½ teaspoon salt

Tabasco or pepper and paprika

1 teaspoon Pernod or pastis Ricard

For this dish the oysters are usually arranged, on a bed of coarse salt, in 4 or 6 shallow ovenproof plates according to whether you are serving 4 or 6 people.

Melt the butter. Add the bacon crumbs and spinach, and the rest of the ingredients. Cook for 5 or 10 minutes over a low heat, stirring the mixture until you have a lightly cooked stuffing. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Divide among the oysters. Grill or place in a hot oven until the oysters are bubbling and lightly browned. Serve on the plates of salt. Put a few drops of Pernod on each oyster, just before serving; a tip I recommend is to do this with an eye-dropper.

OYSTER SOUP

This is the most delicate of fish soups, and is the easiest of all to make. Until oysters become cheap again, you might prefer to substitute mussels, clams or cockles. (This is not a bad joke: with modern methods of fish farming, oysters will be large, plentiful and less expensive before many years have passed.)

Serves 6

2 dozen oysters or 1 kg (2 lb) shellfish

60 g (2 oz) butter

2 tablespoons plain flour

600 ml (1 pt) hot milk or veal stock

¾ teaspoon anchovy essence

nutmeg, cayenne pepper

150 ml (5 fl oz) double cream

salt, pepper

lemon juice, parsley

Clean and open the oysters or other shellfish in the usual way. Discard the shells, but keep the liquor carefully.

Melt the butter in a large pan, stir in the flour and cook gently for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the milk or stock gradually so that the mixture remains smooth. Season with the anchovy essence and a little nutmeg and cayenne. Put in the cream. Simmer for 15–30 minutes. Just before serving, add the oysters and their liquor to the pan to heat through. (Don’t overcook shellfish, they become tough; oysters are ready when they start to curl at the edges.) Correct the seasoning with salt, pepper, and more nutmeg and cayenne if you like. If the flavour is not quite sharp enough, lemon juice will bring it out. Pour the soup into a hot bowl, scatter a little parsley on top and don’t wait for the dilatory guest to appear because the shellfish will go on cooking in the heat of the soup.

OYSTER STEW

Serves 4

700 ml (24 fl oz) single cream or half milk and half double cream

24 large oysters, opened, drained, liquor reserved and strained

Tabasco sauce

salt

4 teaspoons butter

paprika

For this simple classic of American cookery, heat the cream with the strained oyster liquor. Add a dash of Tabasco, salt if required and the oysters. Place 1 teaspoon of butter in four bowls and, when the oysters are firm, pour the stew into the bowls. Sprinkle paprika on top and serve with hot buttered toast, or oyster crackers if you can get them.

POULTRY WITH OYSTER STUFFING AND SAUCE

This is an excellent stuffing and sauce for turkey; for a large chicken,