170 EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSCA.. 



(screen if possible), a few cloves, some chopped chillies, 

 and a little vinegar; simmer not longer than five 

 minutes, and take them out ; remove the beards, and 

 put the oysters in a barrel, and when the liquor is cold, 

 strain and add it." 



Pickled Oysters. — Ostras en Escabechados, Spanish 

 recipe. — "Make a pickle of the liquor of the oysters, 

 chopped onions, parsley, garlic (this, of course, may be 

 omitted if not liked), bay-leaves, marjoram, salt, pepper, 

 butter into which flour has been rubbed, and a few 

 drops of vinegar ; when well thickened hy boiling, add 

 the oysters, and stir gently." 



" Oyster Powder. — Open the oysters carefully, so as 

 not to cut them, except in dividing the gristle, which 

 attaches the shells ; put them into a mortar, and when 

 you have got as many as you can conveniently pound 

 at once, add about two drachms of salt to about a 

 dozen oysters; pound them, and rub them through the 

 back of a hair-sieve, and put them into a mortar again, 

 with as much flour (but previously thoroughly dried) 

 as will roll them into a paste ; roll this paste several 

 times ; lastly flour it, and roll it out the thickness of a 

 half-crown, and cut it into pieces about one inch square; 

 lay them in a Dutch oven, where they will dry so gently 

 as not to get burned; turn them every half-hour, and 

 when they begin to dry, crumble them; they will take 

 about four hours to dry; pound them, sift them, and put 

 them into dry bottles; cork and seal them. Three dozen 

 of natives require seven and half ounces of flour to 

 make them into a paste weighing eleven ounces, and 

 when dried six and half ounces. To make half a pint of 

 sauce, put one ounce of butter into a stew-pan, with 

 three drachms of oyster powder, and six tablespoonfuls 



