Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Oysters, Devilled.•^^^^lon the oysters are opened (choose large ones), retain them and their liquor in the deep shell. Insert cayenne pepper and salt to taste, and put the shells on a gridiron, with a bit of butter on the top of each oyster. If the fire be clear and bright, from three to four minutes will do them. Send to table on a napkin, with bread and butter as an accompaniment. Probable cost. Is. 6d. to Is. 9d. per dozen. Oysters, Eating of. — The following remarks on this important subject are by the Rev. J. G. Wood : — " As to such heresies as pepper and vinegar, let them be banished from the table whilst oysters are upon it. These charming mollusks should always be taken unmitigated, without losing the delicacy of their flavour, by a mixture with any condiment whatever, except their native juice. Alas ! there are few who know how to appreciate and make use of these natural advantages. Scarcely one man in a thousand knows how to open an oyster, and still less how to eat it. The ordinary system which is employed at the oystershops is radically false, for all the juice is lost, and the oyster is left to become dry and insipid upon the flat shell, which effectually answers as a di-ain to convey off the liquid, which is to the oyster what the ' milk ' is to the cocoanut. Those who wish to cat oysters as they should be eaten, should act as follows : — Hold the mollusk firmly in a cloth, insert the point of the knife neatly just before the edge of the upper shell, give a quick decided pressure until the point is felt to glide along the polished inner surface of the under shell. Force it sharply to the hinge, give a smart wrench rather towards the right hand, and off comes the shell. Then pass the knife quickly iinder the oyster, separate it from its attachment, let it faU into the lower shell, floating in its juice, lift it quickly to the lips, and eat it before the delicate aroma has been dissipated into the atmosphere. There is as much difference between an oyster thus opened and eaten, as between champagne frothing and leaping out of the silver-necked bottle, and the same wine after it has been allowed to stand for six hours with the cork removed. There is another method of eating oysters, wherein no knife is required, and not the least skill in opening is needed, the only instrument being a pair of tongs, and the only requisite being a bright fire. You pick out a glowing spot in the fire, where there are no flames, and no black pieces of coal to dart jets of smoke exactly in the place where they are not wanted. You then insert a row of oysters into the glowing coals, taking care to keep their mouths outward and within an easy grasp of the tongs, and their convexity downwards. Presently a spitting and hissing sound is heard, which gradually increases until the shells begin to open, and the juice is seen boiling merrily within, the mollusk itself becoming whiter and more opaque as the operation continues. There is no rule for ascertaining the precise point at which the cooking is completed, for every one has his own taste, and must learn by personal experience. A little practice soon makes