Skip to main content
Main

Escallopped Oysters

Escalloped oysters are baked with layers of oysters, breadcrumbs, butter, pepper, salt, cayenne, and oyster liquor.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Escallopped Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Assemble

  1. Butter the dish and coat it with breadcrumbs.

  2. Add a layer of oysters.

  3. Season with pepper and salt.

  4. Add another layer of oysters, breadcrumbs, butter, and season again.

  5. Add a third layer of oysters, also a little butter, a dash of cayenne pepper, and the liquor of the oysters.

Bake and brown

  1. Place in the oven and allow to remain twenty minutes.

  2. Have in readiness a very hot shovel; hold this over the top until it is deepened to the rich brown of good toast or a cup pound cake.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

20Calories
1 gProtein
1 gFat
4 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Goff, May Perrin, [from old catalog] ed. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Oysters (in the method)
Form the main filling and release briny juices that moisten the dish.
Breadcrumbs (in the method)
Soak up the oyster liquor and crisp into a browned top layer.
Butter (in the method)
Adds richness and helps the crumbs and surface brown.
Cayenne pepper
Adds a gentle background heat that balances the rich oysters.

The step that matters

Browning the top with a hot shovel. Browning depends on high surface heat, which drives the Maillard reaction that gives toasty colour and flavour. Too little heat leaves the top pale and wet, while too much scorches the crumbs before the custard-like layers set, so the shovel must be held close and moved as the colour develops.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesBrown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesMutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipesYorkshire PuddingYorkshire Pudding264 recipes