Oyster Soup (Potage aux Huitres)

Ingredients

• 2 doz. fresh oysters
• 3 doz. tinned oysters
• 2 pts. white or fish stock
• 1 oz. butter
• 1 oz. flour
• A pinch of cayenne
• 2 yolks of eggs
• 1 tea-sp. anchovy essence
• 1 gill of cream
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• White pepper
• salt

Method

1. 1

   Put the oysters into a small saucepan with their own liquor, bring them almost to the boil, then strain, saving the liquor.

2. 2

   Beard the oysters, cut them in two, and put them aside for serving in the soup.

3. 3

   Put the beards into a saucepan with the liquor and the stock, and let them simmer for half an hour, to extract all the flavour from them.

4. 4

   Strain through a fine hair sieve or piece of muslin, and rinse out the saucepan ready for use.

5. 5

   First melt in it the butter being careful it does not brown, add to it the flour, and mix together until quite smooth.

6. 6

   Pour on the stock, and stir constantly over the fire until boiling.

7. 7

   Skim if necessary.

8. 8

   Season to taste with a little white pepper, salt, anchovy essence, and a pinch of cayenne.

9. 9

   Beat up the yolks of eggs in a basin with the cream, draw the pan with the soup in it to the side of the fire, and strain them into it, stirring all the time.

10. 10

    Reheat, but do not boil again.

11. 11

    Add a squeeze of lemon juice.

12. 12

    Put the oysters into the soup tureen, pour the soup over them, and serve.

Nutrition per serving

Estimated from matched ingredients across 3 servings.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Cookery for every household (1914) by Florence B. Jack, page 123. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

tea-sp. anchovy es- sence. Pepper, salt. 2 table-sps. cream. 1 glass white wine. A squeeze of lemon juice. Melt the butter in a saucepan, and when smoking hot put in the vegetables, cut in small pieces, and fry them a few minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and fry a pale brown colour. Then add the stock and stir until boiling. Meantime have the lobster broken in pieces, remove the green part from the throat, throwing it away, cut the meat from the big claws into neat pieces, and reserve them for serving in the soup. Put the shell and the rest of the lobster into a mortar and pound well. Add this to the soup with the bunch of herbs and boil all together for one hour. Rub through a fine sieve, rinse out the saucepan, and return the soup to it. Let it boil up and skim well. Add the cream, pieces of lobster, wine, and other seasonings ; make all very hot and serve with toast. Notes. — If the fish stock is well flavoured some of the above vegetables may be omitted. The wine and cream may also be omitted and a little milk added. If a hen lobster is used and there is spawn, pound this in a mortar with a little butter, rub it through a hair sieve and add it to the soup at the last to give colour. A few fish quenelles (see p. 311) are sometimes served in this soup. Time to cook, 1 \ hours. Quantity, 2 pints. 76 COOKERY FOR EVERY HOUSEHOLD 178. Oyster Soup (Potage aux Huitres) 2 doz. fresh oysters or 3 doz. tinned oysters. 2 pts. white or fish stock. 1 oz. butter. 1 oz. flour. A pinch of cayenne. 2 yolks of eggs. 1 tea-sp. anchovy es- sence. 1 gill of cream. A squeeze of lemon juice. White pepper and salt

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.