Ingredients
2 carrots, mediun peeled & grated in
1/2 cup celery, finely diced
1/4 cup butter, melted
4 cup milk, or 1/2 milk, 1/2 cream
4 cup oysters salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Peel and grate in long thin shreads, the carrots and add finely diced
celery. Melt butter in saucepan and add the vegetables. Stir. Cover
and simmer over very low heat for 20 minutes, without browning the
vegetables. Add milk (or use 1/2 milk, 1/2 cream); bring to a boil.
Heat oysters in enamelled cast iron pan over medium heat; do not
boil. Pour into milk and serve. Uase salt and pepper to taste.
The soup should be served as soon as ready, otherwise it tend to
curdle. The milk and vegetables can be be prepared ahead of time and
the oysters heated and served at the last minute.
To quote Mme. Benoit,"This traditional Quebec dish is still very much
alive. My grandmother's recipe is, as far as I am concerned, the best
there is." Note: from Anne - it seems as oysters were used at
Christmas. My maternal grandmother from the American midwest had a
similar Christmas oyster dish although hers included corn.
Source: _My Grandmother's Kitchen" by Mme. Benoit
Servings: 4 servings
Christmas Oyster Soup Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Christmas; Fish; Holiday; Seafood; Soup
The History of Recipes
Recipes as an idea can be found far back into ancient history, at least as far back into history as ancient Egypt, and potentially, even further back. Interesting though that maybe, mostly, these old records were just very basic pictorial instructions for food preparation.
In an interesting twist, the oldest recipe found, according to food historians are a few stone tablets in the Sumerian language which show the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who tried it feel `blissful`. Moving our culinary historical trip onwards, there were some recipe books which date from the fourteenth century ; a book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary named `Curye on Inglish`. Although the titles sound familiar, these two books are unconnected to the curry that is served today, but instead descriptions of the types of food prepared for the upper classes of the period. Over the succeeding few centuries, the upper classes competed with each other to offer the most exotic meals, and as a result the best chefs and their recipe collections could command a high salary. Even so, it was during the 19th century that fine cookery and cookery books rose to prominence. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Farmer in the USA, dedicated years of their lives to collecting, trying out, and writing down the recipes of their peers. When we get to the 20th century, cookery books are in great demand, mostly due to increased literacy, people having increased spare time and having more money to spend. |
We hope you enjoy this Christmas Oyster Soup recipe.
