CHAPTER III.

=Dishes of Shell-Fish= [Illustration] OYSTERS. [In season from September to April.] THE old-fashioned plan of _feeding_ oysters with a sprinkling of oatmeal or flour, in addition to the salt and water to which they were committed, has long been rejected by all genuine amateurs of these nutritious and excellent fish, who consider the plumpness which the oysters are supposed to gain from the process, but poor compensation for the flavour which they are sure to lose. To cleanse them when they first come up from the beds, and to keep them in good condition for four or five days, they only require to be covered with cold water, with five ounces of salt to the gallon dissolved in it before it is poured on them; this should be changed with regularity every twenty-four hours. By following this plan with exactness they may be kept alive from a week to ten days, but will remain in perfect condition scarcely more than half that time. Oysters should be eaten always the instant they are opened. Abroad they are served before the soup in the first course of a dinner, arranged usually in as many plates as there are guests at table. In England they are sometimes served _after_ the soup. A sense of _appropriateness_ must determine how far the variations of fashion should be followed in such matters. _Obs._—We were accustomed formerly to have the brine which was supplied to oysters intended to be kept for some days, changed twice in the twenty-four hours; but we were informed by an oyster merchant in an extensive business that once was sufficient. TO SCALLOP OYSTERS. Large coarse oysters should never be dressed in this way. Select small plump ones for the purpose, let them be opened carefully, give them a scald in their own liquor, wash them in it free from grit, and beard them neatly. Butter the scallop shells and shake some fine bread-crumbs over them; fill them with alternate layers of oysters, crumbs of bread, and fresh butter cut into small bits; pour in the oyster-liquor, after it has been strained, put a thick, smooth layer of bread-crumbs on the top, moisten them with clarified butter,[51] place the shells in a Dutch oven before a clear fire, and turn them often until the tops are equally and lightly browned: send them immediately to table. Footnote 51: Common cooks merely stick small bits of butter on them. Some persons like a little white pepper or cayenne, and a flavouring of nutmeg added to the oysters; others prefer pounded mace. French cooks recommend with them a mixture of minced mushrooms stewed in butter till quite tender, and sweet herbs finely chopped. The fish is sometimes laid into the shells after having been bearded only. SCALLOPED OYSTERS À LA REINE. Plump and beard the oysters, after having rinsed them well in their own strained liquor; add to this about an equal quantity of very rich white sauce, and thicken it, if needful, with half a teaspoonful of flour, mixed with a small slice of butter, or with as much arrow-root only; put in the oysters, and keep them at the point of simmering for three or four minutes: lay them into the shells, and cover the tops thickly with crumbs fried a delicate brown and well dried; or heap over them instead, a layer of fine crumbs; pour clarified butter on them, and brown them with a salamander. TO STEW OYSTERS. A pint of small plump oysters will be sufficient for a quite moderate-sized dish, but twice as many will be required for a large one. Let them be very carefully opened, and not mangled in the slightest degree; wash them free from grit in their own _strained_ liquor, lay them into a very clean stewpan or well-tinned saucepan, strain the liquor a second time, pour it on them, and heat them slowly in it. When they are just beginning to simmer, lift them out with a slice or a bored wooden spoon, and take off the beards; add to the liquor a quarter of a pint of good cream, a seasoning of pounded mace, and cayenne, and a little salt, and when it boils, stir in from one to two ounces of good butter, smoothly mixed with a large teaspoonful of flour; continue to stir the sauce until these are perfectly blended with it, then put in the oysters, and let them remain by the side of the fire until they are very hot: they require so little cooking that, if kept for four or five minutes nearly simmering, they will be ready for table, and they are quickly hardened by being allowed to boil, or by too much stewing. Serve them garnished with pale fried sippets. Small plump oysters, 1 pint: their own liquor: brought slowly to the point of simmering. Cream, 1/4 pint; seasoning of pounded mace and cayenne; salt as needed; butter, 1 to 2 oz.; flour, 1 large teaspoonful. _Obs._—A little lemon-juice should be stirred quickly into the stew just as it is taken from the fire. Another mode of preparing this dish, is to add the strained liquor of the oysters to about an equal quantity of rich _bechamel_, with a little additional thickening; then to heat them in it, after having prepared and plumped them properly. Or, the beards of the fish may be stewed for half an hour in a little pale gravy, or good broth, and this, when strained and mixed with the oyster-liquor, may be brought to the consistency of cream with the French thickening of