June 17, 2011
Oysters, Oyster Sauce and Mock Oyster Sauce
I shall retreat in as much secrecy as possible to the most remote corner of the house, where I shall order a barrel of oysters, and be famously snug." As Tom Musgrave was seen no more, we may suppose his plan to have succeeded, and imagine him mortifying with his barrel of oysters in dreary solitude, or gladly assisting the landlady in her bar to make fresh negus for the happy dancers above. The Watsons, by Jane Austen

Oyster Sauce is made Thus Take a half a pint of oysters, and simmer them till they are plump,A modern variation of Mock Oyster sauce would be to boil your oysters, then make a basic Roux, add a pint of cream, a teaspoon of Anchovey paste and a half teaspoon of Mace or Nutmeg. Oyster Sauce can be made using this same recipe. Follow the instructions for boiling the oysters and draining them, then add your Roux, horseradish, mace, lemon and anchovey paste.strain the liquor from them through a sieve, wash the oysters very clean, and beard them; put them in a stew-pan, and pour the liquor over them, but mind you do not pour the sediment with the liquor; then add a blade of mace, a quarter of a lemon, a spoonful of anchovy liquor, and a little bit of horse-radish, a little butter rolled in flour, half a pound of butter nicely melted, boil it up gently for ten minutes; then take out the horse-radish, the mace, and lemon, squeeze the juice of the lemon into the sauce, toss it up a little, then put it into your boats or basins. The Art of Cookery, by Hannah Glasse, 1805 Mock Oyster Sauce Take half a pint of cream, one blade of mace (pounded and boiled with the cream), thicken it with butter rolled in flour and essence of anchovies to your taste, about one spoonful. Martha Lloyd's Household Book
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