Put the oysters into a sieve, and set it on a pan to drain the liquor
from them. Then cut off the hard part, and put the oysters into a
stew-pan with some whole pepper, a few blades of mace, and some grated
nutmeg. Add a small piece of butter rolled in flour. Then pour over
them about half of the liquor, or a little more. Set the pan on hot
coals, and simmer them gently about five minutes. Try one, and if it
tastes raw cook them a little longer. Make some thin slices of toast,
having cut off all the crust. Butter the toast and lay it in the bottom
of a deep dish. Put the oysters upon it with the liquor in which they
were stewed.
The liquor of oysters should never be thickened by stirring in
flour. It spoils the taste, and gives them a sodden and disagreeable
appearance, and is no longer practised by good cooks. A little cream is
a fine improvement to stewed oysters.