Take one tablespoonful of butter, two teaspoonfuls grated Edam or
Parmesan cheese, four tablespoonfuls catsup, one-half teaspoonful
Worcestershire sauce, two tablespoonfuls cream, meat of one good-sized
crab cut fine and two dozen oysters. Put the cheese and butter into a
double boiler and when melted smooth add the catsup and Worcestershire
sauce. Mix well and add the cream and then the crab meat. When creamy
and boiling hot drop in the oysters. As soon as the oysters are crinkled
serve on hot buttered toast on hot plates.
In the days before the fire when you went to a restaurant and ordered
fish or oysters the waiter invariably put before you either a plate of
crab salad or a dish of shrimps, with which you were supposed to amuse
yourself while the meal was being prepared. Shrimps and crabs were then
so plentiful that their price was never considered. Under our new
conditions these always appear on the bill when ordered, and if they be
not ordered they do not appear for they now are made to increase the
income.
To the uninitiated visitor the shrimps so served were always something
of a mystery, and after a few futile efforts to get at the meat they
generally gave it up as too much work for the little good derived. The
Old Timer, however, cracked the shrimp's neck, pinched its tail, and out
popped a delicious bonne bouche which added to the joy of the meal and
increased the appetite. But there are many other ways of serving
shrimps, and they are also much used to give flavor to certain fish
sauces. One of the most delicious ways of preparing shrimp is what is
known as "Shrimp Creole, a la Antoine," so named after the famous New
Orleans Antoine by a chef in San Francisco who had regard for the New
Orleans caterer. We doubt if it can be had anywhere in San Francisco now
unless you are well enough known to have it prepared according to the
recipe. This recipe, by the way, is a good one to use in a chafing dish
supper. This is the way it was prepared at the old Pup restaurant, one
of the noted restaurants before the fire and earthquake changed
conditions: