100 large oysters.
1 pt. white wine vinegar.
1 doz. blades of mace.
2 doz. whole cloves.
2 doz. whole black peppers.
1 large red pepper broken into bits.
Put oysters, liquor and all, into a porcelain or bell-metal kettle.
Salt to taste. Heat slowly until the oysters are very hot, but not to
boiling. Take them out with a perforated skimmer, and set aside to
cool. To the liquor which remains in the kettle add the vinegar and
spices. Boil up fairly, and when the oysters are almost cold, pour over
them scalding hot. Cover the jar in which they are, and put away in a
cool place. Next day put the pickled oysters into glass cans with tight
tops. Keep in the dark, and where they are not liable to become heated.
I have kept oysters thus prepared for three weeks in the winter. If you
open a can, use the contents up as soon as practicable. The air, like
the light, will turn them dark.
It is little trouble for every housekeeper to put up the pickled
oysters needed in her family; and besides the satisfaction she will
feel in the consciousness that the materials used are harmless, and
the oysters sound, she will save at least one-third of the price
of those she would buy ready pickled. The colorless vinegar used by
“professionals” for such purposes is usually sulphuric or pyroligneous
acid. If you doubt this, pour a little of the liquor from the pickled
oysters put up by your obliging oyster-dealer into a bell-metal kettle.
I tried it once, and the result was a liquid that matched the clear
green of Niagara in hue.