This section is from the book "The Edible Mollusca Of Great Britain And Ireland", by M. S. Lovell. Also available from Amazon: The Best-Ever Fish & Shellfish Cookbook.
Take fifty oysters; blanch them, but do not let them boil; strain through a sieve, and save the liquor. Put a quarter of a pound of butter into a stew-pan; when it is melted, add six ounces of flour; stir it over the fire for a few minutes, add the liquor from the oysters, two quarts of veal stock, one quart of new milk; season with salt, peppercorns, a little cayenne pepper, a blade of mace, Harvey's sauce and essence of anchovy, a tablespoonful of each; strain it through a tammy, let it boil ten minutes; put the oysters into the tureen, with a gill of cream, and pour the boiling soup upon them".†
Boil four sheep's feet in two quarts of water, till reduced to one quart; it will then be a stiff jelly; put in it, while boiling, a small blade of mace; take off the fat, and thicken it with one and a half tablespoonfuls of ground rice; add from twenty to fifty oysters; boil it till thick enough, and add a teacupful of cream.
Oyster Soup is also particularly good when made with a fish stock; as, for instance, with equal quantities of flounders, skate, and eels, or indeed with any fish that is abundant, and not much in request for other purposes.
Take four dozen oysters; lay the fish apart, and pass the liquor through a sieve, into a stew-pan; set it on the fire; beat up the yolks of six eggs, and stir them in with half a pint of cream; add water or milk to the required quantity; season with pepper, a little grated lemon-peel, and the flesh of an anchovy beaten up, with a little butter and a small teaspoonful of good arrowroot. Five minutes before serving, put in the oysters.*
* 'Flight of the Lapwing'.
† Murray's 'Modern Cookery'.
"Blanch and beard two dozen of oysters, and four dozen of very fresh mussels; put a quarter of a pound of butter into a stew-pan, with six ounces of flour, make a white roux; when cool, add the liquor of the oysters, mussels, and bones of a sole, with two quarts of broth, and three pints of milk; season with a spoonful of salt, one ditto of sugar, a sprig of thyme, parsley, two bay-leaves, four cloves, and two blades of mace; pass through a tammy into a clean stew-pan; boil and skim well; cut about ten pieces of salmon into thin slices, half an inch long, a quarter of an inch wide; cut the fillet of the sole the same size; put all into the boiling soup, with half a handful of picked parsley and a gill of good cream; put the oysters and mussels in the tureen, and serve".†
"Make a rich mutton broth, with two large onions, three blades of mace, and black pepper. When strained, pour it on a hundred and fifty oysters, without the beards, and a bit of butter rolled in flour; simmer gently a quarter of an hour, and serve".‡
"Your stock must be made of any sort of fish the place affords; let there be about two quarts. Take a pint of oysters, beard them put them into a saucepan, strain the liquor, let them stew two or three minutes in their own liquor, then take the hard parts of the oysters, and beat them in a mortar with the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs; mix them with some of the soup, put them with the other part of the oysters and liquor into a saucepan, a little nutmeg, pepper, and salt; stir them well together, and let it boil a quarter of an hour. Dish it up, and send it to table".*
* Maitre Jacques.
† 'The Gastronomic Regenerator,' by Mons. A. Soyer.
‡ 'All About Oysters'.
First scald and beard the oysters, and save the liquor. Next knead two ounces of butter, with one ounce of flour (or, better still, with arrowroot), in a stew-pan; add the liquor, a gill of cream or milk, a little nutmeg, cayenne, anchovy, and lemon-juice; stir over the fire until the sauce boils, then add the oysters and serve hot".†
Prepare the oysters as in the foregoing recipe, boil down their liquor, add half a pint of brown sauce (No. 12), or if there is none ready, use melted butter instead, adding a little browning; season with a little anchovy, cayenne, and lemon-juice; add the oysters; boil together for a few minutes, and serve hot".‡
 
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