66 THE OYSTER. 



dozen plump native oysters, mince tliem small ; omitting the 

 hard part, or gristle. If you cannot get large oysters, you 

 should have forty or fifty small ones. Break into a shallow pan 

 six, seven, or eight eggs, according to the quantity of minced 

 oysters. Omit half the whites, and (having beaten the eggs 

 till very hght, thick, and smooth,) mix the oysters gradually 

 into them, adding a little cayenne pepper, and some poAvdered 

 nutmeg. Put three ounces or more of the best fresh butter 

 into a small frying-pan, if you have no pan especially for 

 omelets. Place it over a clear fire, and when the butter (which 

 should be previously cut up) has come to a boil, put in the 

 omelet-mixture ; stir it till it begins to set ; and fry it a 

 light brown, lifting the edge several times by sKpping a knife 

 under it, and taking care not to cook it too much or it will 

 shrivel and become tough. When done, clap a large hot plate 

 or dish on the top of the omelet, and turn it quickly and care- 

 fully out of the pan. Fold it over, and serve it up imme- 

 diately. This quantity will make one large or two small 

 omelets. The omelet pan should be smaller than a common 

 frying-pan, and lined with tin. In a large pan the omelet will 

 spread too much, and become thin like a pancake. Never 

 turn an omelet while frying, as that will make it heavy and 

 tough. When done, brown it by holding a red-hot salamander 

 close above the top. 



Having given a baker's dozen of the most approved 

 receipts for dressing oysters, I have only to add that 

 the oyster, as an accessory, enters into many dishes, par- 

 ticularly into fricassees, is served with sweetbreads, fowl, 

 and veal, and, as we all know from ''Tom and Jerry," 

 " gentlemen" eat oysters as sauce to rump steak ; which, 

 by the way, I, for one, regard as the ruin of both oyster 

 and steak. I cannot refrain from adding the following, 

 both little knoAvn in this country, yet both equally good : — 



1-i. Calhage with Oysters and Fried Larlis. — When the cab- 



