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
We can trace the history of written recipes far back into history, certainly as far back into recorded history as the ancient Egyptians, and possibly even further than that. In practice though, sadly, these early records were just very basic hieroglyphic instructions for meal preparation.
Interestingly, the most ancient recipe in existence, according to experts in ancient history are some clay tablets in ancient Sumerian which describe the making 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 tried it feel `wonderful`. During Roman times 25BC a roman called Apicius compiled a number of documents showing how to cook the recipes prepared by wealthy Romans. In his publication, Apicius recounts how the meals were split into hors d`oeuvre, main meal and desserts, something that is very familiar to us today. This early Roman chef informs us how the Romans made use of a good variety of aromatic flavors, including a few you will know such as bay, rue and dill. Later, in the 15th century, people returning from the crusades brought us many new foods and herbs from Arab countries, including basil and coriander. These new spices and herbs prompted an eruption in recipe books, some of which still exist in private cookery archives. By the time we get to the twentieth century, cookery books were starting to become popular mostly as a result of more people being able to read, people having increased free time and a general increase in wealth. Like it or not, the introduction of TV brings us celebrity TV chefs and the recipe books that accompanied them. Which brings us neatly up to date and the invention of the internet, permitting everybody to search through massive numbers of recipes such as those found on sites such as this. |
We hope you enjoy this Christmas Oyster Soup recipe.
