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[Illustration:
ANCIENT NATIVES OF BRITAIN, ENCAMPED NEAR COLCHESTER.
(_From a curious Glyptic in possession of the Author._)]
THE OYSTER;
WHERE, HOW, AND WHEN
TO
FIND, BREED, COOK,
AND
EAT IT.
[Illustration]
LONDON:
TRÜBNER & CO., 60, PATERNOSTER ROW.
MDCCCLXI.
LONDON:
WILLIAM STEVENS, PRINTER, 37, BELL YARD,
TEMPLE BAR.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE OYSTER IN SEASON.
The R. canon correct; Alimentary Qualities of the
Oyster; Profitable Investment; Billingsgate, and
London Consumption; English Oyster-beds; Jersey
Oysters; French Oyster-beds on the Coast of Brittany 9
CHAPTER II.
ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE OYSTER.
The Ancients; Oysters a Greek and Roman Luxury;
Sergius Orata, and the Oyster-beds of Baia; Immense
Consumption at Rome; Failure of the Circean and
Lucrinian Oyster-beds under Domitian, and Introduction
of Rutupians from Britain; Agricola, Constantine, and
Helena; Athenian Oysters, and Aristides. 21
CHAPTER III.
MODERN HISTORY OF THE OYSTER.
Fall of the Rutupian Supremacy; Louis IV. and William
of Normandy; Conquest of England, and Revival of
Oyster-eating in England; The Oyster under Legal
Protection; American Oysters 24
CHAPTER IV.
THE OYSTER AT HOME.
Its Nature, Colour, and Structure; Natural Food;
Perception of the changes of Light; Uses of the Celia;
Fecundity and Means of Propagation; Age; Fossil
Oysters in Berkshire and in the Pacific; Power of
Locomotion 28
CHAPTER V.
THE OYSTER IN ITS NEW SETTLEMENT.
Dredging for Oysters; Oyster-beds and their formation;
Sergius Orata; Pliny the Elder; Baia and the Lucrine
Sea; Roman Epicurism and Gluttony; Martial and Horace,
Cicero and Seneca; Masticate Oysters, and do not bolt
them whole; Mediterranean and Atlantic Oysters;
Agricola and the Rutupians; Apicius Cœlius, Trajan,
Pliny, and the Vivarium 37
CHAPTER VI.
THE OYSTER ON ITS TRAVELS.
The Isle of Sheppey, the Medway, and Whitstable;
Milton, Queenborough, Rochester, and Faversham
Oysters; Colchester and Essex Beds; Edinburgh Pandores
and Aberdours; Dublin Carlingfords and Powldoodies;
Poole and its Oyster-bank; Cornish Oysters and the
Helford Beds; Poor Tyacke, and How he was Done;
Dredgers and their Boats; Auld Reekie's Civic
Ceremonial; Song of the Oyster; its Voyage to Market,
and Journey by Coach and Rail 45
CHAPTER VII.
THE OYSTER AT ITS JOURNEY'S END.
Oyster Stalls; How to Open the Oyster; an Oyster
Supper; Beer, Wines, and Spirits; Roasted, Fried,
Stewed, and Scolloped Oysters; Oyster Soup, and Oyster
Sauce; Broiled Oysters; Oyster Pie; Oyster Toast;
Oyster Patties; Oyster Powder; Pickled Oysters; Oyster
Loaves; Oyster Omelet; Cabbage, Larks, and Oysters;
and Frogs and Oysters 54
CHAPTER VIII.
THE OYSTER AND THE DOCTOR.
Oyster-eating in Prussia; Disgusting Wagers; Oysters
better than Pills, A Universal Remedy; Professional
Opinions; When Ladies should eat them; Repugnance
overcome; Oysters as an External Application; Chemical
Analysis; How to tell if Dead before Opening 68
CHAPTER IX.
THE OYSTER ABROAD.
British Oysters in Ostend Quarters; the Whitstable in
a Slow Coach; Holstein, Schleswig, and Heligoland
Natives; Norwegian and Bremer Oysters; American
Oysters; French Oysters; Dutch Oysters; Mediterranean
Oysters and Classical Judges 75
CHAPTER X.
"THE TREASURE OF AN OYSTER."
Sweet names given to Pearls; Barry Cornwall Proctor's
lines; Component parts of Pearls; Mother-of-pearl; How
Pearls are formed, Sorrows into Gems; Their nucleus;
Sir Everard Home and Sir David Brewster; Curious
shapes and fancy Jewellery; Pearl Fisheries; Bahrein
Island and Bay of Candalchy; Miseries of the Divers;
Pearls as Physic; Immense value of recorded Pearls; A
Perle for a Prince; Most precious Pearls 82
THE OYSTER
CHAPTER I.
THE OYSTER IN SEASON.
The R. canon correct; Alimentary Qualities of the Oyster; Profitable
Investment; Billingsgate, and London Consumption; English Oyster-beds;
Jersey Oysters; French Oyster-beds on the Coast of Brittany.
Of the Millions who live to eat and eat to live in this wide world of
ours, how few are there who do not, at proper times and seasons, enjoy a
good oyster. It may not be an ungrateful task, therefore, if I endeavour
to inform them what species of animal the little succulent shell-fish
is, that affords to man so much gastronomical enjoyment—how born and
bred and nurtured; when, and where; and, lastly, how best it may be
eaten, whether in its living and natural state, or having undergone the
ordeal of cooking by the skill of a superior artist.
I have oftentimes been told that it is a mere question of
fastidiousness, or fashion, that oysters should be served for human food
only at a certain fixed period of the year—those months possessing the
letter _r_ being proverbially the only months when the oyster is fit for
human food. Why not, such reasoners have said, eat oysters all the year
round? Life is short. Why not obtain the first of gastronomical
enjoyments every month of the year and every day of the month? I can in
no manner go with these opinions, either from my practical knowledge of
the oyster, or from any just reasoning.
I am aware that there are many good men and true, and others calling
themselves, somewhat erroneously, sportsmen, beyond the white cliffs of
Britain, who would eat an oyster on the hottest day of June and July as
they would a partridge, a pheasant, or a salmon at any season of the
year. Sufficient the names oyster, partridge, pheasant—all gastronomical
delights—all to be eaten, and by them eaten whensoever and wheresoever
served, what matters it? I am also aware that in our good City of
London, in the hottest and earliest days of August,[1] oysters are
gulped down by the thousand: it is, nevertheless, an error—a revolting,
unhealthy, unclean error—which ought to be denied, both at home and
abroad, by the strong hand of the law.
I, for my part, utterly and entirely ignore fish or fowl of the game
species, as fit for human food during the seasons of breeding; and
although an oyster may be eatable in August, if the month be hot it is
rarely fresh; and what is more disgusting or more likely to be injurious
to man than a stale oyster? That which I have said, however, on the
oyster in this little book which I offer to the million—for the million
are interested in the subject—will, I hope, induce those who have
hitherto broken through a rule strictly adhered to by all gastronomes,
to abstain in future; and those who have hitherto enjoyed oyster-eating,
fearlessly to eat on and secure the first and foremost of all
gastronomical indulgences provided for man—only in due season.
On the 25th of July, says Brand, the antiquary, being St. James the
Apostle's Day, the priests of old were wont to bless apples; and a
popular belief too, in 1588, though generally ignored in the more
enlightened days in which we live, was, that whoever ate oysters on that
day would not be without money for the remainder of the year. This is
very probable, for without they were selected with great care, disease
and even death might follow. This conjunction of apples and oysters on
St. James's Day may have suggested Bianca's remark in the "Taming of the
Shrew," when comparing the resemblance of the old Pedant to that of
Vincentio, which she remarks was as complete as that of an oyster to an
apple.
One must, therefore, take care not to eat oysters during the months of
June and July, because they are unwholesome on account of the
spawning-time; and also be careful in their selection in August. There
are instances when persons, after having eaten oysters during these
months, have become ill, and have even died. Last summer, at Ostend,
thirty persons were taken ill in consequence of having eaten oysters in
the month of July. They are, during these months, very thin, and without
taste; in the month of September they become again fat and eatable,
which may be accounted for by the fact of their being self-generated.
The strength of the poor oysters is entirely spent in fattening
themselves, in order the more to tickle the palate of the epicure in the
proper season.
Now let us proceed to open the oyster.
The Oyster! The mere writing of the word creates sensations of
succulence—gastronomical pleasures, nutritive food, easy digestion,
palatable indulgence—then go sleep in peace!
Lobster salads, beef and veal, truffles and chestnuts, all good in their
way, are, nevertheless, attended with evil consequences to the human
frame.
But oysters—ye pleasant companions of the midnight hours, or the mid-day
feast; is there a man, woman or child in all Europe—ay, or in Asia,
Africa, or America—who does not owe you a debt of gratitude which they
repay to the full by the enjoyment of your society _tête-à-tête_? You
are eaten raw and alive, cooked and scolloped, in sauce and without
sauce. True, true, oh oyster! thou art the best beloved of the loved!
The oyster, when eaten moderately, is, without contradiction, a
wholesome food, and one of the greatest delicacies in the world. It
contains much nutritive substance, which is very digestive, and produces
a peculiar charm and an inexplicable pleasure. After having eaten
oysters we feel joyous, light, and agreeable—yes, one might say,
fabulously well. He who has eaten for the first time oysters is best
enabled to judge of this; for, soon after having eaten them, he will
experience a sensation he never felt before, and never had an idea of.
This sensation scarcely remains with people who eat oysters every day;
it is more practically felt when oysters are eaten for breakfast or
before dinner, although they are also very wholesome in the evening,
when taken moderately. Gourmets and epicures eat the oyster in its
natural state, except that the beard is taken away. In England it is
eaten with pepper, in Holland with vinegar, in Germany frequently with
lemon-juice; but I am of the opinion, and am convinced, that when taken
with the liquor they still contain, they are more digestible and more
tasty. The opinion that this fluid is salt water, is an error; it is the
white blood of the oyster itself, which it emits when injured in having
its upper shell broken off. If it were sea-water, it would have a
disagreeable bitter taste, and cause sickness; but as this does not take
place, but on the contrary gives a fine taste to the oyster, the error
is evident. The error appears to arise from the fact that
unconscientious oyster dealers wash the oysters with salt and water in
order to give them a better appearance, as they say.
"The oyster," says a writer in No. 824 of the "Family Herald"—that most
agreeable of all window-seat books—"is a species of food combining the
most precious alimentary qualities. Its meat is soft, firm, and
delicate. It has sufficient flavour to please the taste, but not enough
to excite to surfeit. Through a quality peculiar to itself, it favours
the intestinal and gastric absorption, mixing easily with other food;
and, assimilating with the juices of the stomach, it aids and favours
the digestive functions. There is no other alimentary substance, not
even excepting bread, which does not produce indigestion under certain
given circumstances, but oysters never. This is a homage due to them.
They may be eaten to-day, to-morrow, for ever, in profusion; indigestion
is not to be feared, and we may be certain that no doctor was ever
called in through their fault. Of course we except cooked oysters.
Besides their valuable digestive qualities, oysters supply a recipe not
to be despised in the liquor they contain. It is produced by the
sea-water they have swallowed, but which, having been digested, has lost
the peculiar bitterness of salt water. This oyster-water is limpid, and
slightly saline in taste. Far from being purgative, like sea-water, it
promotes digestion. It keeps the oysters themselves fresh, prolongs
their life for some time until it is destroyed in our stomachs, or until
the oyster has been transformed into a portion of ourselves."
The degree of importance which different persons attach to matters
connected with the world in which we live, depends, of course, in a
great measure, on the manner in which they view them.
One person considers a loving wife, and four hundred a year, wealth and
happiness; another would be miserable without four thousand, and could
dispense with the wife. Some consider a post with five thousand a year a
tolerable means of existence; others a commissionership with twelve
hundred. Some seek a good consulship; others, till they have travelled
from St. Petersburg and back in a telega, or sledge, half a dozen times
during mid-winter, use the interest, which in other days would have
secured a snug governorship, even in the Island of Barataria, to obtain
a queen's messenger's place. At least so it used to be. Whether
competitive examinations will lead to our having the right man in the
right place, the round pegs in round holes, and the square pegs in
square ones, still remains to be seen. And so is it with most things in
life, whether personal or gastronomical. Different men are of different
opinions; some like apples, and some like—onions; but I have scarcely
ever yet met with the man who has refused a thoroughly good oyster.
There is not a man, however unobservant, but knows that oysters are a
great source of profit to some of that multitude which rises every
morning without knowing exactly how, when, and where it shall dine.
Billingsgate in the oyster season is a sight and a caution. Boats coming
in loaded; porters struggling with baskets and sacks; early loungers
looking on—it is so pleasant to see other people work—buyers and
cheapeners, the fish salesman in his rostrum, the wealthy purchaser who
can lay out his hundreds and buy his thousands—all to be met with,
together with that noise and bustle, and, far beyond it, all that
incredible earnestness which always distinguishes an English market.
Oysters, says Dryasdust, in his very useful commercial work—in which,
however, he makes alarming mis-statements—oysters are consumed in London
in incredible quantities, "and notwithstanding their high price, are
largely eaten by the middle and lower classes!"
Thanking Dryasdust for his information, and being one of the great
middle class ourselves, we can safely assert that oysters are _not_ high
in price. Fancy being able to purchase twelve succulent dainties for one
six-pence at Ling's or Quin's, at Proctor's or Pim's, or any other
celebrated shell-fish shop! Twelve "lumps of delight," as the
Mussulman—not mussel man—calls his sweetmeats! and then fancy Dryasdust
saying that they are high in price! Oh shame, where is thy blush!
A farm of four acres, if well handled, may give occupation, and even
bring pecuniary gain, to the possessor. A garden, for those who
thoroughly understand and enjoy it, may secure untold pleasures, and
perhaps help to pay the rent of the cottage. But an "oyster-bed" is a
pleasure—an _el dorado_—a mine of wealth, in fact, which fills the
owners' pockets with gold, and affords to the million untold
gastronomical enjoyment and healthy food. On the money part of the
question, the Scientific and Useful column of Number 825 of the "Family
Herald" furnishes the following information: "A very interesting report
has been recently made to the French Government on the results of
experiments made for the improvement of oyster-beds. The locality chosen
was the Bay of St. Brieux, on the coast of Brittany. Between March and
May, 1859, about 3,000,000 oysters, taken from different parts of the
sea, were distributed in ten longitudinal beds in the above bay. The
bottom was previously covered with old oyster shells and boughs of trees
arranged like fascines. To these the young oysters attach themselves,
and so fruitful are the results that one of the fascines was found at
the end of six months to have no less than 20,000 young oysters on it.
The report further states that 12,000 hectares may be brought into full
bearing in three years at an annual expense not exceeding 10,000
francs."
M. Laviciare, Commissary of the Maritime Inscription, in his 1860 report
to M. Coste, of the success of these operations in the Bay of St.
Brieux, states that "a recent examination has fully and satisfactorily
proved the advantageous results obtained on the five banks which have
been laid down, and which have exceeded the most sanguine expectations.
Three fascines, which were taken up indiscriminately from one of the
banks formed in June, 1859, contained about 20,000 oysters each, of from
one inch to two inches in diameter. The total expense for forming the
above bank was 221f.; and if the 300 fascines laid down on it be
multiplied by 20,000, 600,000 oysters will be obtained, which, if sold
at 20f. a thousand, will produce 120,000f. If, however, the number of
oysters on each fascine were to be reckoned at only 10,000, the sum of
60,000f. would be received, which, for an expenditure of only 221f.
would give a larger profit than any other known branch of industry."
But the breeding and fattening of the London oyster has long been a
lucrative branch of trade, of which Cockaine may well be proud. It is
carried on "contagious" to London, as Mrs. Malaprop would
say—principally in Essex and Kent. The rivers Crouch, Blackwater, and
Colne are the chief breeding places in the former, and the channel of
the Swale and the Medway in the latter. These are contiguous to Milton;
hence Dibdin's song, and hence also the corruption of "melting
hoysters;" melting they are too. The corruption is classical, so let it
stand.
Exclusive of oysters bred in Essex and Kent, vast numbers are brought
from Jersey, Poole, and other places along the coast, and are fattened
in beds. The export of oysters from Jersey alone is very considerable,
having amounted on an average of the four years ending with 1832[2] to
208,032 bushels a year. The Jersey fishing then employed, during the
season, about 1500 men, 1000 women and children, and 250 boats. Think of
this, ye oyster-eaters! Think that ye are doing—such is the wise
ordination of an overruling Providence—some good when you are swallowing
your ante-prandial oyster, and are giving employment to some portion of
those 3000 people who work for you at Jersey, besides helping to feed
the cold-fingered fishmonger, who, with blue apron and skilful knife,
tempts you to "Hanother dazzen, sir?"
Of the quantity of oysters consumed in London we cannot give even an
approximate guess. It must amount to millions of bushels. Fancy, if you
can, also, that curiously courteous exchange which goes on every
Christmas between our oyster-eating country cousins and our turkey and
goose-loving Londoners. To the man
"Who hath been long in city pent,
'Tis very sweet to gaze upon the fair
And open brow of heaven;—to breathe a prayer
Full in the face of the blue firmament"—
sings John Keats. Oh, if he had been but an oyster-eater, that article
from the "Quarterly," savage and slaughterly, would not have killed him;
but it is also very sweet to gaze upon a turkey, a leash of birds, a
brace of pheasants, and, as Mrs. Tibbetts hath it, "a real country
hare." Such a present is promptly repaid by a fine cod packed in ice,
and two barrels of oysters. How sweet are these when eaten at a country
home, and opened by yourselves, the barrel being paraded on the table
with its top knocked out, and with the whitest of napkins round it, as
we shall presently have occasion to show. How sweet it is, too, to open
some of the dear natives for your pretty cousin, and to see her open her
sweet little mouth about as wide as Lesbia's sparrow did for his lump
of—not sugar, it was not then invented—but lump of honey! How sweet it
is, after the young lady has swallowed her half dozen, to help yourself!
The oyster never tastes sweeter than when thus operated on by yourself,
so that you do not "job" the knife into your hand! True labour has a
dignity about it. The only time when I, who have seen most people, from
Tom Thumb to the Benicia Boy, from Madame Doche to the Empress Eugenie,
and from manly, sea-going Prince Alfred to the Staleybridge Infant and
Jemmy Shaw's "Spider"—the only time, I say, that I have ever seen a
nobleman look like a nobleman, was when a noble duke, a peer not only of
England and Scotland, but of _la belle France_ also, owned that he could
do two things better than most people, and that was, open oysters and
polish his own boots. I, like Othello, when he upbraided Iago for the
last time, "looked down to his feet," but found that it was no fable.
So important is our illustrious bivalve as an article of trade, that it
is protected by law. It is said that the only two things that George the
Fourth ever did—the great Georgius, whom Mr. Thackeray envies and
satirises—were to invent a shoe-buckle and an exquisite hair-dye. The
brains of the black Brunswicker could do no more. But there is one act
also—an Act of Parliament[3]—which was passed in his reign, for which he
is to be thanked. The man who was at once the Lucullus and Apicius of
his times must have had some hand in the framing of that Act.
-----
Footnote 1:
The common Colchester and Faversham oysters are brought to market on
the 5th of August. They are called _Common oysters_, and are picked up
on the French coast, and then transferred to those beds; the Milton,
or, as they are commonly called, the _melting Natives_, the true
Rutupians, do not come in till the beginning of October, continue in
season till the 12th of May, and approach the meridian of their
perfection about Christmas. The denizens from France are not to be
compared to British _Native_ oysters, which are so called because they
are born, bred, and fed in this country. These do not come to
perfection till they are four years old.
Footnote 2:
The exportation has by this time nearly doubled, but these are the
latest statistics we can arrive at.
Footnote 3:
See page 25.