OSTREAD^. — OYSTER. 169 



butter and spice, &c., then parsnips, then oysters, eggs, 

 &c., until your dish is filled. Put butter on the top of 

 all, and cover it all with paste ; bake half an hour, or 

 so, and when it comes out of the oven, pour over it 

 melted butter, and juice of lemon, and serve hot. 



" Pickled Oysters. — Put two dozen of large oysters 

 into a stew-pan over a fire, with their liquor only, and 

 boil them five minutes; then strain the liquor into 

 another stew-pan, and add to it a bay-leaf, a little 

 cayenne pepper, salt, a gill and a half of vinegar, half 

 a gill of ketchup, a blade of mace, a few allspice, and 

 a bit of lemon-peel ; boil it till three parts reduced, 

 then beard and wash the oysters, put them to the 

 pickle, and boil them together two minutes. When 

 they are to be served up, place the oysters in rows, 

 and strain the liquor over them ; garnish the dish with 

 slices of lemon or barberries."* 



Glamorganshire way of Pickling Oysters. — Beard them 

 nicely ; then slowly stew them in the liquor from their 

 shells, with a bay-leaf or two, and some whole black 

 pepper ; a very small quantity of vinegar is then added, 

 and they are placed in stone jars, corked, and covered 

 with pitch. They are then ready for the London 

 markets. 



This oyster pickling may be seen going on in almost 

 every cottage. The oysters when raw sell at Is, the 

 hundred, and when pickled at about Is. 9d., or even 

 at 2s. 



Soger's Recipe for Pickling Oysters for the London 



Markets. — " Put the oysters, with their liquor, in an 



earthen pan on the fire to simmer; take off the scum 



as it rises; add some whole pepper, sliced ginger 



* From an old Cookery Book. 



