Oysters on the Half-Shell

Name: Oysters on the Half-Shell
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: small plump oysters; a quarter of a lemon; brown bread and butter

From Miss Corson's practical American cookery and household management, 1885

Serves 2

Best served fresh; avoid canned oysters unless they are freshly opened.

Presented as published in 1885. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation below, not the original instructions.

A modern interpretation · AI-generated from the original record

Ingredients

small plump oysters
a quarter of a lemon
brown bread and butter

Method

Choose the smallest plump oysters.
Wash the shells with cold water to remove mud, then open them, loosening the oyster from both sides of the shell.
Remove the shallow half of the shell, leaving the oyster in the deep part.
Arrange the deep half-shells on plates, placing five or six oysters on each plate.
Add a quarter of a lemon in the center of the oysters and provide more lemon on the table, along with thinly cut and buttered brown bread.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Miss Corson's practical American cookery and household management (1885) by Juliet Corson, page 95. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

brown bread and butter, both of which are placed upon the table when it is laid. OYSTERS ON THE HALF-SHELL. Choose the smallest plump oysters which can be obtained. In the New- York markets, all very small oysters in good condition for serving on the half-shell are called Blue-Points. ■63 164 PRACTICAL AMERICAN COOKERY. The small native oysters of California are excellent, having the coppery taste so much esteemed by European epicures. The^ small oysters of the southern Atlantic seaboard are delicious. Have the shells of the oysters liberally dashed with cold -water to free them from mud, and then open them, loosening the oyster from both sides of the shell by dividing the muscle variously called the " eye '' and the " heart " (both terms are erroneous) ; take off the shallow half of the shell, leaving the oyster lying loose in the deep part, carefully removing all bits of shell which may be broken in opening the oysters: if, the oysters are carefully opened, very little of the shell will be broken. Arrangs the deep half-shells containing the oysters upon plates, five or six on each plate, with the smallest part of the shell towards the centre of the plate ; put a quarter of a lemon

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