Carefully open thirty large, fine, fresh box-oysters; place them in a saucepan with their own juice, season with the third of a saltspoonful of red pepper, adding half a medium-sized fine, sound lemon, cut into thin slices, one sprig of thyme, a small bay-leaf, and a branch of well-washed parsley. Place on the hot range, and heat up very fast without boiling, for which, on a very brisk fire, it should be done in one minute and a quarter; then place the whole in an earthen bowl to cool.

Beat up one raw egg in a bowl with one gill of cold milk, seasoned with a light pinch of pepper and a light pinch of salt; steep the oysters in this, one by one, then lightly roll them in cracker-dust; give them a nice even shape in the palm of the hand, and lay them on a dish. Heat up thoroughly in a frying-pan on the hot range one gill of clarified butter and half a gill of olive oil (it must be very hot before placing in the oysters), and fry them for one minute on each side. Remove them with a skimmer, dress on a hot dish with a folded napkin, and serve with the following sauce separately:

Strain the juice of the oysters into a saucepan, and reduce it to one half on the hot range, with half a saltspoonful of red pepper, adding also the juice of half a sound lemon and a gill of sauce Espagnole (No. 151). Cook for three minutes, add a teaspoonful of chopped chives, pour it into a sauce-bowl, and send to the table.