1 fresh asparagus, 6 or 7 spea
1 fresh or frozen oysters, all
2 tbsp dry white wine
2 egg yolks
20 butter
1 salt, pepper, cayenne
Directions
Recipe by: ianst@qdpii.ind.dpi.qld.gov.au (Ian Staples) Another recipe
courtesy of John Morris, butcher and caterer in Rockhampton,
Queensland, Australia, as discussed on ABC [Australian Broadcasting
Corp.] Radio on Sunday 13 March 1994 in the "Queensland Sunday"
programme.
John opened the discussion by stating that this is NOT a Lenten meal
;-) (He recommended it for breakfast in bed on Sunday mornings in
fact.)
Allow 6 or 7 spears per person. Not too thin and not too old.
Trim bottom 1" of the asparagus spears and peel the lower part if
necessary (shouldn't be required if you've selected the bunches
correctly and trimmed off the bottoms) then poach them gently - get
about 1" of water boiling in
Cut the oysters into thin strips rather than serving them as lumps.
Reserve the juice from the oyster shells - should get about 2
tablespoon fr Mix this with the dry white wine and reduce over heat
by about 2/3rds (i.e. you'll have about 1 1/2 tablespoon left).
Add this liquor and about 4 tablespoon of the poaching water slowly
to the and whisk them over very low heat until light and frothy
(note: do not have the liquor or the other fluid too hot when adding
to the eggs - you don't want to curdle them).
Add seasoning. Then draw the sauce together by adding 20 gram of
*cold* di butter and stirring it in gently. Add the oyster strips and
fold through.
Lay the freshly cooked asparagus spears on the serving plates and
pour the oyster sauce over them (fairly now ;-).
Servings: 1 servings
Asparagus With Oyster Sauce Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Australian; Fish; Sauce; Seafood; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
Written cooking instructions as a concept can be found back into the far past, in fact as far back into recorded history as the Egyptians, and possibly even further. Interesting though that maybe, generally, these ancient cookbooks were just basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for preparing meals.
In fact, the oldest recipe found, according to experts in ancient history are a few clay tablets in Sumerian which show the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made anyone who drank it feel `exhilarated, wonderful and blissful`. Progressing into Roman times around 25BC a roman called Apicius wrote a number of documents describing recipes prepared by his fellow Romans. He tells us how the meals of wealthy Romans were divided into starters, main meal and desserts, something we still use today. Aspicius tells us how the Roman cooks were skilled in the use of a good variety of spices and herbs, including a few you will know such as basil, fennel and parsley. Later on, we find a couple of interesting books which were published in the 1300s : a book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another titled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are a little misleading though, they are unconnected to the indian curry that is familiar to us all today, but rather descriptions of the types of food on the menues of the nobility of that period. Later on in the 1400s, people returning from the crusades brought back many foods and spices from the East, including spices such as coriander, parsley, basil and rosemary. These new culinary innovations was responsible for an eruption in recipe books, most of which still exist in academic collections. For the centuries that followed, the powerful and rich houses competed with each other to serve up the most extravagent banquests, and as a result chefs and their collection of recipes could command a high salary. Notwithstanding that, it was during the 19th century that cookery and recipe books really came of age. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the US, devoted much of their lives to collecting, testing, and writing down recipes for their fellow cooks to enjoy. By the advent of the twentieth century, cook books were in great demand, as a result of increased literacy, increased leisure time and a general increase in wealth. The introduction of the TV gave us TV cookery programs and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. And that brings us to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, permitting us all to access massive numbers of recipes such as those found on this site. |
We hope you enjoy this Asparagus With Oyster Sauce recipe.
