Gambian Oyster Stew

"We had no money and struggled - we used to only charge 10 dalasi per cup, now its 60 dalasi. We are a family now, this association." 

-- Marie Demba

The above quote references the sale of cooked oysters by a female vendor at one of the markets in The Gambia. The quote is part of a larger story. It is the story of how that little bivalve can play an oversized role in the economic empowerment of marginalized people.

The Gambia is a very small country in Western Africa, basically running along the shores of the river of the same name. It is not a place that one would ordinarily associate with oysters; however, there are mangrove forests along the river. Those forests provide an ideal place for oysters to plant themselves and grow. And, for four months of the year, from March to June, the oysters can be harvested. 

Approximately 98% of the people who harvest oysters in The Gambia are women. During low tide, they take canoes out onto the water and, with small axes, the women chip oysters off the roots of the mangrove trees. Once the tide re-emerges, the women return to the shore. They process the oysters that they have harvested. The process begins with a sorting of the oysters. If the oysters are destined for a local market, then the women shuck them and cook them.  

All of this work is hard and dangerous. Many of the women do not know how to swim, so there is the threat of drowning whenever they go out onto the river. When they return safely, the women confront the absence of basic facilities needed to prepare the oysters, such as clean water. They also lack basic protective gear when they shuck the oysters, like gloves, leaving their exposed hands to being cut by the sharp edges of the oyster shells. 

Nevertheless, they persevere and do so collectively. For example, the female oyster harvesters in Kartong, a small village in the south of The Gambia, have joined together to establish the Senegambia Oyster Women Association. Through this association, the harvesters get training in oyster cultivation, including how to preserve the mangroves where the oysters grow. A video produced by the United Nations Food & Agricultural Organization describes their work: 

Not only do the women make money by harvesting, boiling and then selling the oysters, they also create additional income through the byproduct -- the oyster shells -- that are used to make jewerly or sold to be turned into white lime for construction uses. The women generate income to support themselves and their families, including paying for their children's education, paying their rent and even establishing their own bank accounts. The Senegambia Oyster Women Association has also grown, bringing in additional harvesters from neighboring villages. 

The story of the women harvesters, as well as their association, demonstrates perhaps the most important feature of the common oyster ... its ability to lift communities out of poverty through economic empowerment, enabling people to achieve economic independence and relative prosperity that has been otherwise denied to them. This empowerment has been demonstrated, time and time again, over the course of history, both in large countries, like the United States, and small ones, like The Gambia. 

Having learned how oysters empowered women in The Gambia, I began to search for a Gambian-inspired oyster recipe. That search was rather difficult, as there are few such recipes to be found. Nevertheless, I eventually I found the makings of an oyster stew in a video interview of Ida Cham-Njai, who is the founder of the Yabouy Home Cooking School. While I have made many oyster stews in my time, this particular stew provided a unique opportunity to try something different. Most notably, and perhaps expectedly, the base of the stew does not include cream. Rather, the base is created with tomatoes (which, quite frankly, I like a lot more than cream). Additional flavor comes from the use of onions, bell peppers, scallions and garlic, but there are no other herbs or spices added to the stew. The end result is a simple to prepare stew that is very delicious.

GAMBIAN OYSTER STEW

Recipe from Give Me This Day (recipe originally from Ida Cham-Njai)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Handful of fresh oysters in their liqueur (about 12 oysters)
• 3 tablespoons peanut oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch of scallions, white parts diced, green parts sliced
• Salt, to taste
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• Cooked Rice, to serve

Directions:

1.  Saute the oysters. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the oysters, and cook for only 1-2 minutes, until they firm just slightly around the edges and start becoming opaque. Remove immediately and set aside. 

2. Prepare the stew base. Heat the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the onion, scallions, and the pepper, and saute until the onion is translucent and the pepper softens, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute more. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine with the ingredients, then add the tomatoes and oyster liqueur. Lower the heat to medium. Continue to cook, as the tomatoes break down, for another 3-5 minutes. 

3. Add the oysters. Add the oysters, and gently stir the oysters into the base. Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat. 

4. Finish the dish. Plate some cooked rice, and spoon the stew with the oysters over the rice. Garnish with scallion greens. 

PEACE.

Oysters with Lemongrass Chile Mignonette

Perhaps one of the greatest things about a mignonette sauce is its adaptability to ingredients. One never has to stick with a traditional mignonette that consists of shallots, vinegar, salt and vinegar. The sauce is, in many ways, a small canvas on which a cook or chef could create a variety of culinary artwork. 

Over the years, I have produced some culinary artworks (I use that phrase very lightly). I've prepared a Balsamic Mignonette, Lemon-Basil Mignonette, Beer Mignonette, Peach Champagne Mignonette, Mango Habanero Mignonette, and Green Mignonette. None of these mignonettes come close to a work of art. I am no culinary Leonardo da Vinci, Khalil Rabah, Amoaka Boafu, or Diego Rivera when it comes to mignonettes or any other culinary work. 

That is okay, because mignonettes are not supposed to be masterpieces. The sauces always play a supporting role. That role focuses upon highlighting the sweetness or brininess of the oyster. If someone is using an oyster to eat a mignonette, then they have turned the entire experience on its head. Mignonettes are intended to elevate the eating of raw oysters. 

But, I firmly believe that mignonettes can serve another purpose, namely, to introduce people to new flavors and flavor combinations. A mignonette should serve not only to enhance, but to educate. I often look for unique or different mignonette recipes that shed some additional light upon a cuisine or a people. That search led me to this Lemongrass Chile Mignonette. Lemongrass is a common ingredient in southern and southeast Asian cuisines, from Sri Lanka to Vietnam and every where in between (think Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia). It is also a foundational pairing with chiles. Together, both ingredients add something missing from raw oysters. Lemongrass provides a citrusy aroma, as well as a little bitter or tartness, which works well with sweeter oysters). Chiles, of course, provide a little kick that also works very well with sweet oysters. 

Together, lemongrass and chiles (or, in this case, sambal oelek, which is an Indonesian chile paste) play their supporting role. They worked very with the Chesapeake Bay oysters that I paired them with, both Misty Points and Chincoteague Salts. But, I hope that this mignonette will open the door for those who may not be as familiar as myself with Burmese, Thai, Cambodian, Laotian, Vietnamese, Malayasian or Indonesian cuisine. Both ingredients can be found in many recipes from across the region. If you are looking for a starting point, perhaps consider Aromatic Chicken from the Shan Hills, a Burmese recipe' Ga Xao Xo Ot (Lemongrass Chile Chicken), a Vietnamese recipe; or Larb, a Laotian dish. All of these recipes are easy to make and delicious to eat.

OYSTERS WITH LEMONGRASS CHILE MIGNONETTE

Recipe from Hama Hama Oysters

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1 dozen oysters
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1 makrut lime leaf
• 1 tablespoon chopped lemongrass
• 1 tablespoon sambal oelek
• 1/4 cup finely minced shallots
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black peppercorns

Directions:

1. Infuse the vinegar. Heat the vinegar to a simmer, take off heat, and add lime leave and lemongrass. Let the vinegar infuse for at least an hour in the refrigerator (overnight is even better). 

2. Finish the mignonette. Strain out the aromatics and stir in the shallot, sambal and pepper. Chill for an hour to let the flavors come together. 

PEACE.

Oysters with Citrus Pink Peppercorn Mignonette

If one is not specific in their research, then it could lead to unintended places. Take, for example, a search for the history of the mignonette sauce served alongside oysters. I entered those terms in an online search, but I ended up with the history of a vessel called "Mignonette." As I read that history, I was treatred to the story of sailors taking the vessel from England to Austrailia around the Cape of Good Hope. They never made it ... running into trouble off the coast of Africa. The story gets worse from there, ending in cannabalism as the desperate and hungry sailors ended up eating one of their own. 

(This is not my first encounter with a voyage gone wrong during my research. I previously posted about Captain Crockett's last breakfast, the meal he ate aboard his vessel before being killed by the cook.)

Nevertheless, the desperation and horror aboard a vessel was hardly the story I expected to find as I searched for the history of the mignonette sauce. I honed my research terms and was able to engage in more palatable reading: the history and oritgin of a sauce about which little thought is probably given by those who eat oysters.

With all of that said, the history of the mignonette sauce is a little less clear than what happened to the crew of the vessel. While the term mignonette is obviously French, there are some who believe the sauce originated in England. Regardless of its origin, a mignonette began as something completely different that its present day form. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the term referred to a small cloth satchel of crushed peppercorns and spices that would be added to broths, sauces, soups and stocks. The satchel would flavor the liquid while preventing the cracked spices from making their presence known in the final dish. 

Eventually, the sauce evolved into a mixture of vinegar with minced shallots and cracked black pepper. That evolution took place at some point during the nineteenth century. The sauce eventually became a popular condiment served alongside oysters in the late 1800s, especially among the upscale dining establishments in the United States and across Western Europe. The term, mignonette, means "small and sweet," which is an obvious reference to the oyster given the sauce consists of bitter and acidic ingredients. The combination of bitter and sweet helps to round out the experience of eating oysters.

That is pretty much the history of a mignonette sauce, small and sweet. 

This particular recipe takes a twist on the standard mignonette recipe. It uses rice wine vinegar, which is milder and sweeter than white wine vinegar or regular vinegar. It adds back in some acidity through the use of lemon juice and lime juice. It also provides a subtle pepper note through the use of cracked pink peppercorn, as opposed to the traditional tellicherry black peppercorn. This sauce is perhaps my favorite mignonette recipe because it tracks the traditional recipe but in creative ways. 

OYSTERS WITH CITRUS PINK PEPPERCORN MIGNONETTE

Recipe from Hama Hama Oysters

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup rice wine viengar
• 1 lemon, juice & zest
• 1 lime, juice & zest
• 1/4 cup finely minced shallots (or substitute red onion)
• 1 teaspoon pink pepper corns, coarsely ground

Directions:

Stir all ingredients together and chill for an hour to infuse.

PEACE.

Chesapeake Oyster Dressing

The history of oyster stuffing can be traced back to the 17th century where, in Britain, cooks incorporated oysters with the ingredients used to stuff, among other things, chicken, fish, and rabbits. in the stuffing of for, among other things, chickens, fish, and rabbits. One of the earliest recipes can be found in The Accomplisht Cook (1685), where it appears in a recipe that called for the oysters to be cooked, mixed with herbs and spices, and then stuffed in a young hen's belly for roasting. 

The use of oysters in stuffing or dressing (the former refers to cooking it in the bird while the latter refers to cooking it separately), made its way across the Atlantic Ocean when the British colonized the new world. With oysters as plentiful up and down the east coast as they were in the British isles, it was only a matter of time before cooks would use oyster stuffings when preparing chicken, fish and, of course, turkeys. Thus, oyster stuffing itself migrated from New England down the coast to the Chesapeake Bay.

As the few who follow this blog know, I have an affinity for the Chesapeake Bay. I have spent a lot of time exploring various aspects about the Bay, especially when it comes to its cuisine. Recently, my beautiful Angel and our wonderful family spent some time during the most recent Thanksgiving holiday in Crisfield, Maryland. Crisfield is "the City Built on Oysters." It began as a small fishing village known as Sumer's Cove. However, John Crisfield had other ideas. He worked to get a railroad line built to the village, which was completed in 1866 when the first train pulled into the station. That railine, along with a steamboat wharf, turned the town into a transportation hub.  The residents renamed the town Crisfield. But, there was more in store for the town. 

Six years after that first train arrived in the city, there were 600 hundred registered oyster boats working out of the harbor. Thirteen years after that, an average of 400,000 bushels of oysters were arriving at the Crisfield Wharf annually. At its height, there were 40 to 50 seafod houses along the Crisfield waterfront. The city had become the "Seafood Capital of the World."  Oysters contributed more than just economic growth, their shells helped the city expand. People started taking the oyster shells from the shucking houses and using them to provide a building foundation. Those shells provided stability in an area that was primarily marshland prone to flooding. 

Maryland oysters.

Simply put, oysters were critical to the Crisfield's rise. So, it seemed appropriate that as the Savage Boleks had their Thanksgiving meal in Crisfield, I should prepare and serve an oyster dressing. The internet contains quite a few possible recipes, but I decided to prepare a recipe from the Oyster Recovery Partnership ("ORP"). The ORP is a non-profit dedicated to rebuilding the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay. They do that through a variety of initiatives, including the restoration of public fishery reefs and the establishment of an oyster shell recycling program. The ORP has had an undeniable, beneficial impact on the oyster population, having planted more than 3.1 billion oysters on 3,000 acres of reef, and recycled more than 350,000 bushels of oyster shells. 

This recipe is very good and it was a hit at the meal. Just one note: I made one adjustment to the fourth step. As I was combining the ingredients, I noted that the mixture was a little dry. The recipe calls for adding some turkey stock to the mixture. I decided to add both stock and a little more white wine, roughly in equal proportions, until the mixture was moist enough. I have to admit that I did not measure as I worked, I just used my eye to make sure that the stuffing had the right moisture before being put into the oven. 

CHESAPEAKE OYSTER DRESSING

Recipe adapted from Oyster Recovery Partnership

Ingredients:

• 14 ounces of day-old bread, cut into pieces
• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 celery ribs, chopped
• Sea salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 6 ounces of chicken (or turkey) broth, more if needed
• 4 ounces white wine
• 1 pint oysters (including liquor, strained)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1-2 teaspoons of hot sauce
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon mace
• 1 tablespoon of Old Bay or XO spice
• 2 tablespoons of butter, cut into small pieces.

Directions:

1. Prepare the dressing. Place bread stuffing in a large bowl. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and celery and saute for 6-8 minutes until soft and just beginning to brown. Season lightly with salt and pepper, deglaze the pan with chicken (or turkey) broth and white wine and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. 

2. Prepare the oysters. In a medium bowl, mix lightly the oysters, lemon juice, hot sauce and parsley. 

3. Bake the dressing. Add the cooled onion mixture to the bread. Gently fold in the oysters, mace, and Old Bay or XO spice. Add the reserved oyster liquor and mix gently. Add more chicken (or turkey) stock if the stuffing seems dry. It should be very moist. Put the stuffing in a large greased baking dish. Dot the surface with small pices of butter. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes. 

PEACE.

New York City Oyster Pan Roast

"No, I do not weep at the world - I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife."

- Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road

 

Oysters possess an amazing power: they can enable individuals and, indeed, entire communities, to overcome the economic, political, and social structures that are built to deprive and marginalize them. This power has been demonstrated, time and time again, throughout the history of the United States. But, perhaps, the one example that can best illustrate the uplifting potential of oysters involves a dish known as the New York City Oyster Pan Roast. 

To truly understand the example, one must go in 1791. In that year, Thomas Downing was born on Chincoteague Island, Virginia, to two African-American parents. At that time and in that State, slavery reigned. And, Downings parents had been slaves. But, their slave master -- Captain John Downing, a wealthy landowner in Oak Hall -- converted to Methodism, which condemned slavery. Captain Downing freed all of his slaves, including Thomas Downing's parents. As freed slaves, his parents were able to buy a small tract of land, where they settled and where Thomas Downing was born in 1791. 

While a part of the State of Virginia, Chincoteague Island provided somewhat of a refuge from the larger world. It was a landscape where Thomas Downing could learn to handle a boat amongst the barrier islands and fish the waters. Those waters were also teeming with oyster beds, providing Thomas with the opportunity to harvest oysters, developing a keen eye for which ones were the best. 

The refuge of Chincoteague Island could not keep out history. As the War of 1812 commenced, Thomas Downing (then age 21) joined the Army and marched north to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was stationed. After the war ended, Downing stayed in Philadelphia, where he met his wife and started a family that included four sons and a daughter. Downing also got a job working in an oyster bar, and he eventually opened his own bar. During that time, Downing learned that many freed African-Americans went further north to New York City, where they worked on oyster vessels and in the oyster industry. Downing decided to take his family and follow that path.

Census records reveal that Downing made the move to New York City by 1819, where he was registered as an oysterman. But, he was his own oysterman. Downing rented a skiff and plied the waters in the New Jersey flats to harvest oysters, whether by dredging, plucking or tonging. As writer Cameron Oglesby once observed, "oystering was a profession that allowed Black men to act as their own bosses providing a new and liberating sense of self and economic independence from White industrial America." Downing was living proof of that statement at the time.  

More importantly, even though Downing was living and working in the North, where slavery had been outlawed, he still had to endure discrimination and oppression from a white society that did not view him as an equal. Downing had a plan to overcome those obstacles: he would open an oyster bar, or oyster cellar, as they were known in New York City. But not just any oyster cellar. 

Present day location of where Thomas Downing's
Oyster House once stood. (Source: Robt. Wright)

At the time, oyster cellars in New York City had a certain ill repute. Many oyster cellars were rough places, found in basements that could be located with a red balloon flying outside the door. Thomas Downing chose 5 Broad Street in lower Manhattan for his business. That location was just a short walk to the centers of economic power, such as the Merchant Exchange, Wall Street, and the Customs House. While oysters were a food enjoyed by everyone, from the poor to the rich, Downing understood that the wealthy would pay a lot more for the same food. His oyster bar would focus on bringing in that wealthier clientele. 

Thomas Downing opened his oyster cellar in 1825, which could be found in the basement of 5 Broad Street. He used the network of friends that he made while working as an oysterman to procure the oysters for his restaurant. He even used his skiff to go out onto the waters early in the morning to meet those friends and procure the best oysters before they even reached the shore, let alone the market. Downing also utilized print advertisements in newspapers to promote his restaurant, including an ad in the March, 30, 1938 edition of the New York Herald that read: 

Oysters! - Oysters!  - Oysters!

The above article may be had in their prime at Downing's. I take this method of informing my customers that I have a better stock of oysters on hand at present, than I have had this season. The lovers of the above article can (I feel assured) be fully satisfied by calling at my establishment. It is with pleasure that I say that I can give my customers a better Oyster at present, than I could at any time this eason. Strangers who have any doubts as regard to the superiority of the New York Oysters, have only to call and try, and be satisfied.

Thomas Downing, 5 Broad St.

N.B. I have a lot of Pickled Oysters on hand for importation.

Downing also used advertisements to draw in customers for other dishes he served, including "a turtle of rather a singular description." His hard work paid off: he built up a clientele of rich white people who spent a lot of money at his establishment. He was able to expand his restaurant, leasing 3 Broad Street and 7 Broad Street, creating a dining room with fine carpeting, chandeliers, mirrors and damask curtains. He was also able to utilize the steam generated underground to create a "vault" that allowed for oysters to remain fresh until they were ready to be prepared and served. His business only grew from there, with additional restaurants opening in other parts of the city, as well as a growing export business that sent oysters up and down the eastern coast, as well as overseas. By 1857, Thomas Downing had a net worth of $100,000, which would be the equivalent of $3,723,862 in today's dollars. Downing was the richest African American and indeed richer than most white Americans when slavery gripped half of the nation and exploited most African Americans. 

At his fine dining establishment, Thomas Downing served oysters in a variety of ways: scalloped oysters, oyster pie, turkey stuffed with oysters, as well as "oysters roasted on a gridiron over oak shavings."  Yet, the one dish that has survived over time, and for which Thomas Downing is best known, is his New York City Oyster Pan Roast. 

I found a recipe for a Thomas Downing-inspired New York City Oyster Pan Roast, which was adapted from a recipe developed by Albert Lukas, the supervising chef at the Sweet Home Cafe, which is located in the Smithsonian National Museum for African American History and Culture. 

The key to the recipe and, in fact, the entire dish is the sauce. The sauce is prepared with shallots, along with white wine, oyster liqueur (the liquid in the oysters when shucked), Worcestershire sauce, chili sauce, and hot sauce. The butter and heavy cream add thickness to the sauce, along with this relatively white color. The sauce serves as the base in which the oysters are "pan-roasted" only for a few minutes. The goal is to firm up the sides, making them plumper without overcooking them. The dish is completed by portioning the oysters in shallow bowls, ladling some of the sauce over them, and serving them with toasted, buttered bread, which can be used to mopping up the sauce.

NEW YORK CITY OYSTER PAN ROAST

Recipe from the Washington Post

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 12 baguette slices, for serving 
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 of them melted
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3 dozen freshly shucked oysters, preferably from the bay
• 1 cup oyster liqueur
• 3 teaspoons chile sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Generous 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Directions:

1. Toast the baguette slices. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange the baguette slices flat on a baking sheet and brush the tops of each one using the tablespoon of melted butter. Bake on the middle rack for 12 to 16 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. 

2. Saute the shallots.  Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Stir in the shallot and cook for 5 to 8 minutes until tender, then add the wine. Increase the heat to medium and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the oyster liquor and cook just long enough for the mixture to begin bubbling at the edges. 

3. Continue cooking. Add the chile sauce, Worcestershire sauce and cream, stirring to blend well. Cook for two minutes, then reduce the heat to medium low; add the oysters and stir to coat. Cook for 2 minutes, being careful not to overcook them. Gently stir in the Tabasco sauce and the remaining tablespoon of butter with the saucepan until thoroughly incorporated. Remove from the heat.

4. Finish the dish. To serve, place 6 oysters into wide shallow bowls (6 bowls total) and then ladle the chile cream sauce over the oysters in each bowl. Garnish each with 2 baguette slices.

*     *     *

Postscript: While Thomas Downing found his independence, both self and economic, through serving oysters to white America, he never forgot the larger backdrop to his success. Downing offered his Broad Street restaurant as a stop on the Underground Railroad, where he hid fugitive slaves from the 1830s until the end of slavery in the 1860s. He also fought to restore the rights of African American men to vote, which had been effectively taken away when the State of New York passed a law requiring them to be residents for at least 3 years and own at least $250 worth of property. While that effort failed, Thomas Downing continued to be a staunch abolitionist and advocate for African-American rights. 

Downing also continued to be a victim of the white supremacist system and society in this country. For example, in 1840, Downing refused to exit a white's only railroad car. The railroad agents forcibly removed Downing from the car, using considerable violence. According to court records from Downing's lawsuit against the agents, they "struck him under the ear, ..., beat and kicked him, broke his hat and forced him violently from the car." The jury, which was most likely comprised of all white people, found the agents "not guilty." 

The lesson is that there are ways for marginalized and suppressed peoples to find their independence, but the only true way for them to achieve equality with the oppressors is to change a system built upon white supremacy. Since Downing's death in 1866, our country made advancements toward that change, but the problematic system remains intact; and, in recent months, the white supremacists are now reasserting themselves. Our path forward remains unwritten. We can still work toward a diverse, equitable and inclusive society, or the current system, which primarily benefits one group of people, will remain in place. Only time will tell.... 

PEACE. 

Antebellum Fried Oysters

Oysters have a peculiar place in our historical foodways. Once plentiful across the Chesapeake Bay, as well as both seaboards and the Gulf of Mexico, their abundance enabled the bivalve to become a food item that was available to everyone. And, for some, especially the enslaved Africans who worked on plantations up and down the Chesapeake Bay during Antebellum times, the oyster was an important staple of their meager diet.

Most slave owners provided little more than a monthly or periodic allotment of cornmeal, salt, and poor-quality meat. For example, George Washington provided his slaves who worked at Mount Vernon with "1 quart of cornmeal and 5-8 ounces of salted fish (usually shad or herring)."  It was just enough, in the eyes of owners like Washington, to sustain the slaves. "[A]s much as they can eat without waste and nothing more," in the words of the General and former President. From the slaves' perspective, it was not enough to survive. This led slaves to search for food that would supplement their diets, ending with whatever they could find or catch. 

Oysters were an important part of this supplement. As Frederick Douglass once wrote, the enslaved at the Wye House (which was a plantation on Maryland's eastern shore), the enslaved African-Americans gathered oysters to "make up the deficiency of their scanty allowance of food." The collection of oysters from local waterways is a practice that can be traced across the Atlantic Ocean. A reknowned historian and chef, Michael Twitty, saw the parallels between Virginia and Senegal. While walking through the Kermel Market in Dakar, Senegal's capital, Twitty noticed the "blue-hued crabs, the fish that resembled shad or rockfish, and the shallow troughs filled with oysters," which "transport[ed his] mind to the Chesapeake and its tributaries." It was common practice in Senegambia (the combination of present day Senegal and The Gambia) for families to collect crabs and oysters, along with other crustaceans and shellfish, from the brackish waters along the Gambia river. 

When Africans were forcibly brought to the new world as slaves, they brought this collective knowledge about oystering with them. Slaves could have gone out at low tides and collected oysters from reefs close to the shore. Slaves worked on oyster vessels, plying the waters of the bay and tonging for oysters. As an aside, slaves who worked on these vessels were some of the first to be emancipated, long before President Lincoln gave his address at Gettysburg, through the issuance of Seaman Protection Certificates (as early as 1797) that defined the holder of such a certificate as a U.S. citizen. Indeed, Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery posing as a seaman, borrowing a certificate from another African-American. 

Back at their quarters on the planation, enslaved African-Americans often ate oysters right out of the shell. Cooks would also prepare oysters using what little they had on hand, such as that cornmeal and whatever cooking oil or lard they could find. This recipe seeks to recreate a very basic preparation of fried oysters that could have been prepared by slaves in their cabins for their families. No fancy mignonettes, no special preparations. Just oysters, cornmeal and cooking oil. 

I prepared this recipe, as well as this post, because I deeply believe that we need to learn and understand all of our history, both the good and the bad, especially the bad. If we do not fully understand and come to grips with what our country has done, then we can never truly improve our country or even come close to the ideals upon which it was founded. Moreover, the current administration is trying to wipe away all of the progress that we have made over the past fifty years. The President is using his administration and the government to coercively substitute our history with others' propaganda, whitewashing what our country did to millions of its citizens by diverting their attention toward a false beacon of hope. We should be acknowledging the transgressions of our past, learning from those mistakes as we build a better future for every person in this country. That is what fuels me during each and every day in my actual job. It now fuels me each and every moment of my free time when I work on my blog, as embodied in my personal version of Federal Project Number One.  

ANTEBELLUM FRIED OYSTERS

Recipe adapted from multiple sources

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pint of shucked oysters or about 24 oysters shucked, liquor reserved
• 1 cup of corn meal, more if needed
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup cooking oil, butter or animal lard

Directions:

1.  Prepare the oysters. Pour the cornmeal in a bowl. If you are using a pint of oysters drain the oysters through a finsh mesh sieve or cheesecloth and reserve the liquor in a bowl. Return the oysters to the bowl with the liquor. Take an oyster and roll it in the cornmeal until covered, set aside. Repeat with the remaining oysters.

2. Fry the oysters. Heat the oil, butter or lard in a pan over medium high heat. Add a few oysters at a time, making sure not to overcrowd the oysters. Cook the oysters for 2-3 minutes until they begin to brown and then turn. Brown the other side for 1-2 minutes. Remove and set aside on a plate lined with a paper towel. Repeat with the remaining oysters. Once all oysters have been cooked, serve immediately.

*     *     * 

Postscript: As to the ingredient itself, I wanted to ensure that I used oysters from the Chesapeake Bay, not from somewhere else (such as along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico). While vacationing in the eastern shore of Virginia, I purchased a pint of pre-shucked oysters from the Great Machipongo Clam Shack, which is an amazing restaurant located on Route 13 in the eastern shore of Virginia. The oysters came from H.M. Terry Company, an established oyster farmer that has been operating in Willis Wharf, Virginia since 1903. The oysters were Sewansecotts, which are a briny bivalve cultivated by H.M. Terry in the waters near Hog Island, Virginia.  

PEACE.

Lowcountry Brown Oyster Stew

This post about an oyster stew takes us to a very specific and incredibly important part of South Carolina's lowcountry. It is that part that overlaps with the Gullah-Geechee Corridor. The corridor itself runs from Jacksonville, Florida to Wilmington, North Carolina. However, as the corridor passes through South Carolina, it crosses islands, along with towns and cities, with the rich history of the Gullah-Geechee people. 

The Gullah-Geechee are descended from West Africans who were forcibly taken places ranging from modern day Senegal to Angola during the 18th century. The enslaved West Africans were brought to the United States to labor on rice plantations on the South Carolina's sea islands and along its Atlantic Coast. I had an opportunity to learn about this history and its profound impact upon our country as I prepared a dish of Carolina Crab Rice. (Hint: it was the knowledge and skills, along with the uncompensated hard labor, of those enslaved West Africans that created the infrastructure for, as well as enabled the successful production of, rice in South Carolina.)

The enslaved brought more than their knowledge and skills to this country, they also brought a variety of ingredients that were not part of the American-table at that time. This recipe captures some of those ingredients. For example, dawadawa or fermented locust beans. The fermenting of locust beans can be traced back to the 14th century, and its use in the preparation of food goes equally far back in time. Cooks in African countries like Nigeria, Benin and Ghana use dawadawa in many iconic dishes, like Jollof, as well as soups or stews like Fakoye. Locust beans are typically not cultivated, rather they are dispersed by people and animals. That brings us to the connection between Africa and the "New World." Slaves brought these locust beans with them as they were forcibly taken from Africa and transported to various places in North America, like the South Carolina coast, or the Caribbean. That may be one reason why one can find locust beans, as well as dawadawa, in Haiti. 

Dawadawa (Source: Slow Food)

Another interesting ingredient is the dried crayfish powder. As someone who has used dried shrimp when preparing dishes from Sri Lanka, I have a little familiarity with the umami-like scents and tastes that the ingredient can provide to a dish. The use of dried crayfish powder is used for that very purpose -- to add umami -- in dishes prepared along the African coastline of modern day Ghana and Benin. The technique of drying crayfish - which thrive in freshwater and some brackish water -- could have been brought with Africans so that they could preserve this source of protein for use in dishes.

Both dawadawa and dried crayfish powder are more than ingredients; they embody culinary techniques. A natural processing of ingredients from the land or the water to obtain something more. This particular recipe highlights that fact. The use of dawadawa and ground crayfish powder, along with the sundried tomato powder, served as a substitute for bacon or smoked pork. These ingredients provided elements that mimic smoked flavors, earthiness and richness that one would ordinarily get from using diced up bacon or smoked ham.  

Together, these ingredients helped to produce a stew that I have to say is far more complex and delicious than any oyster stew made with heavy cream. If I had my druthers, I would produce a huge batch of this stew and enter as a contestant in the next Oysterfest held by the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in October 2025. It probably would not win (as the winners are usually the heavy-cream based stews), but it would introduce a completely different, but equally authentic and historic, way to prepare this dish to an audience who would probably never have the opportunity to taste it. 

LOWCOUNTRY BROWN OYSTER STEW

Recipe from Saveur

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons toasted benne (sesame seeds)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon lemongrass powder
• 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1.5 tablespoons sundried tomato powder
• 2 teaspoons Caribbean bay leaf powder or 2 dried bay leaves; 
• 1.5 teaspoon crawfish powder or dried shrimp powder
• 2 teaspoons ground dawadawa
• 1.5 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1.5 teaspoon onion powder
• 1.5 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
• 2 pints shucked fresh oysters
• 6 cups seafood stock, vegetable stock or water
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion sprouts or chives

Directions:

1. Toast the spices. in a large skillet set over medium-low heat, add the benne, ginger powder and lemongrass powder; toast until golden-brown, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat. 

2. Prepare the roux. In a large pot over medium high heat, whisk together the flour, 2 tablespoons of oil and the butter. Stir continuously until the roux turns a dark chocolate brown color, about 5 minutes. 

3. Saute the vegetables. In a separate skillet over medium high heat, add the remaining oil, celery and onion. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. 

4. Continue working with the roux. Turn the heat down to low, then add the tomato powder, bay leaf powder, dawadawa, crawfish powder, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika and chipotle powder. Cook, stirring continuously until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the celery-onion mixture and then slowly pour in the oyster liquor and the tock, stirring continuously until all the liquid is incorporated into the roux. Add the salt, turn the heat up to medium-low to bring the stew to a boil, then turn the heat back down to maintain a simmer. Cook until the broth is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and has reduced by about a third, 40 to 45 minutes. 

5. Finish the dish. Remove the stew from the heat, then immediately stir in the oysters (the residual heat will cook them). Season to taste with more salt as needed. Ladle the brown oyster stew into wide soup bowls, garnish with onion sprouts and reserved benne seed-ginger-lemongrass mixture and serve hot. 

PEACE.

When Oysters Can't Sleep

This appears to be the reason why oysters found in deep water are rather small; darkness hinders their growth, and their gloom robs them of appetite.

-- Pliny the Elder 

Pliny's words may hold true for oysters that find themselves in the deep depths of water; but, what if oysters find themselves in a world of light. Does that mean that they will thrive and grow to be big and plump? Put another way, what if oysters are exposed to too much light? What happens in that case?

Those questions were tackled by researchers from the University of Bordeaux. Those researchers - Audrey Botte, Laura Payton and Damien Tran - published a study in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. The researchers kept oysters in several tanks. They turned up the lights slowly to simulate the rising sun and then kept the lights on as if it were daytime. They turned down the lights as the sun would set, but they did not turn them down all the way. Instead, they left a dim glow, which was supposed to simulate artificial light at night. After they concluded their study, they published their findings: 

Our results showed that ALAN [artificial light at night] disrupts the oyster's daily rhythm by increasing valve activity and annihilating day/night differences of expression of circadian clock and clock-associated genes.

So, too much light -- or too much continuous light -- has a negative effect upon oysters.  The following graphic also demonstrates the researcher's findings:

Put simply, light pollution - especially light produced by cities during the night time - has an effect upon the daily lives of oysters. The impact upon the oysters' biological rhythms affects the bivalves' genes. Those genes are what turn on oysters during the day and turn them off at night. But, if there is continuous light, the oysters do not turn off. They don't sleep. They have insomnia. 

The effects of insomnia upon people are well researched and documented. Generally, according to the Mayo Clinic, insomnia can cause physical, mental and emotional complications. People are less effective at what they do. One can surmise that insomnia could have equivalent effects upon oysters - making them less effective at what they do and perhaps even affecting how their internal systems operate.  For people, the solution involves, in part, improvement in sleeping habits. Perhaps for oysters, the solution lies in improving their sleeping habits. That means turning off the lights. 

All of the discussion of oysters got me to thinking about my favorite oyster recipes. If I had to choose one recipe that, to date, is my favorite oyster recipe, it would be the following one. There is something about oysters and gazpacho that is the perfect combination, at least in my humble opinion.

MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE OYSTER RECIPE

ANDALUSIAN-INSPIRED OYSTER SHOOTERS

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 pint of shucked oysters or 24 oysters shucked with liqueur reserved
• 1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cucumber, skinned, seeded, diced
• 1/2 jalapeno, skinned, seeded and diced
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
• 1 bunch of scallions, white parts and green parts thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup water
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Prepare the "gazpacho."  Place the tomatoes, bell pepper, cucumber, white wine vinegar, and jalapeno in a blender.  Blend until the ingredients are liquified.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

2.  Prepare the oysters.  If you buy a pint of oysters, remove the oysters and strain the liquid through cheesecloth.  If you bought the oysters, shuck the oysters and reserve the liqueur.

3.  Finish the dish.  Stir the oyster liqueur into the "gazpacho."  Place 1 or 2 oysters in the bottom of a shot glass, and 1-2 tablespoons of the "gazpacho."  Garnish with the scallions.  Serve immediately.

OTHER DELICIOUS OYSTER DISHES TO TRY

If you are looking for other dishes that will make oysters lie awake at night, here are some recipes that I strongly recommend: 

Vietnamese Grilled Oysters: This recipe presents grilled oysters with a topping that incorporates a perfect balance of the five tastes: spice, sour, salty, bitter and sweet.The chiles provided the spice. Lime juice perhaps contributes the sour or bitter flavors. Fish sauce definitely imbues a salty umami flavor and there can be no dispute that honey adds sweetness to the dish. 

Oyster Ceviche: This recipe allows one to "cook" oysters in a different way, through the chemical reaction caused by the oysters marinating in citrus juice. That chemical reaction is also the common method of preparing ceviche, which is a well known dish throughout Latin America.

Oyster Shooters with Tomato, Lime and Chiles: I called this recipe ever invented. That was back in 2017, which was one year before I discovered my Andalusian-Inspired Oyster Shooters recipe. Still, the combination of tomatoes, limes and chiles works well for a non-alcoholic oyster shooter. 

Oysters Rockefeller: No list of oyster dishes would seemingly be complete without a reference to Oysters Rockefeller. The dish that originated in New Orleans and whose original recipe is still a closely guarded secret. My first attempt at the dish was not bad, but the end result was very tasty.

These are just some of the oyster recipes on this blog. If you want to see the other posts, just click on "Oysters" in the word cloud in "What's in my Fridge + Pantry." Until next time,

PEACE. 

Cuminatum in Ostrea

I love reading about history, including culinary history. My travels through books and along the Internet take me to a lot of recipes. Many of those recipes, along with the resulting dishes, have long histories that date back decades, centuries and, in a few cases, perhaps a millennium or two. Yet, the recipes I find are usually the present day versions of those recipes, with little to no discussion about how we got to this point or that recipe.

Every once in a while, I will stumble upon someone who takes the time to find and talk about those recipes. In this case, it is the Historical Italian Cooking blog. The recipe that caught my eye is called cuminatum in ostrea et conchylia, which is Latin for cumin sauce for oysters and shellfish. The recipe dates back to at least the 5th century C.E., during which the Roman Empire collapsed (476 C.E.). We can go this far back because the recipe was found in the midst of a collection of recipes compiled in De Re Culinaria, also known as Apicius. The only surviving version of the Apicius dates back to the 5th century. 

Yet, cookbooks are sometimes akin to history books: they recount the recipe at the time of publication. This particular recipe may be much older, perhaps dating all the way back to the 1st century C.E. Some have attributed the Apicius to Marcus Gavius Apicius, who noble who was renown for his love of luxury foods. The Roman philopsopher Seneca once remarked that Apicius "proclaimed the science of the cookshop" (Seneca, Consolatio ad Helviami 10) and then corrupted the age through his example.

As the Historical Italian Cooking blog explains, Romans considered oysters to be a "costly food." Oysters may have been a luxury to the point that there was a reluctance to share them. The Roman poet, Martial (known as the father of the epigram, after all, he wrote 1,561 of them) recounted the following interesting epigram about a guest's response to the host's dinner: 

I dine with you at my own cost,

So why not fare the same, both guest and host?

You swallow Lucrine oysters large and fat,

I suck a whelk and cut my lips at that.

You're served with mushrooms, I chew fungus still,

You have to do with turbot, I with brill

Plump yellow doves your appetite assuage, 

I have a magpie starved within its cage.

I am by your side and yet I'm far away.

The dole has gone. Let's fare the same, I say.

Clearly, oysters ranked with other luxurious food items, such as mushrooms, turbot, and "plump yellow doves." (By the way, the underlying message in this epigram is as timeless is as true today as it was when Martial wrote it back in the first century A.D.) Other epigrams and poems by Martial underscore the oyster as an expensive food for Romans. 

Yet, even a costly food item like oysters has its limits. In another poem, Martial wrote, in part: 

I WILLINGLY accept your dainty fare

If hospitality be undesigning: 

Not so, if you imagine that I care

For nothing in the world so much as dining; 

A dozen oysters will not make you heir

To my reputed wealth for which you are pining; 

The feast is elegant; that I admit

But on the morrow what is left of it? 

Upon the morrow? Where is it to-day

The moment after it has passed your gullet?

Thus, oysters won't make you rich during Roman times, but they were certainly enjoyed by the rich.

This leads me to how Romans ate oysters. For that, I turned back to the Historical Italian Cooking blog. The author writes that in books wrote in the 2nd century, Galen's De Facultatibus Alimentorium, and in the 6th century, Anthimus' De Observatione Ciborum, recount that Romans ate oysters both raw and cooked (either boiled or fried). 

However, the recipe in Apicius provides for the oysters and shellfish but did not provide a cooking method. it provided only a sauce, and one that has its base in cuminum or cumin. In fact, the sauce requires a good amount of cumin (or cuminum plusculum). The recipe also calls for other spices (black pepper and lovage), herbs (fresh parsley and mint, the recipe calls for dried mint but you can use fresh mint), and a liquid mixture that consists of honey, garum and vinegar. If you do not have lovage, Historical Italian Cooking advises that, according to Pliny, you could use anise seeds, or according to Dioscorides, you can use fennel seeds.

For this recipe, I decided to prepare the sauce to serve with raw oysters. While I do not have authentic Roman garum (check out this post by Historical Italian Cooking on how to make it), I do have a significant amount of Vietnamese fish sauce (check out my post with a brief discussion of the history of fish sauce, including a reference to garum). I have modified the recipe slightly from the one provided by Historical Italian Cooking to show both how the writer described the preparation and how I prepared this dish. 

In the end, I have to say that I was not a big fan of this sauce. While I like cumin as a spice, I came to the realization that I am not keen on cuminum plusculum. The large amount of cumin overwhelmed the flavors of the oysters, with the brininess being lost in the loud notes of the spice. 

CUMINATUM IN OSTREA

Recipe adapted from Historical Italian Cooking

Serves several

Ingredients:

• 1.5 kilograms (about 3 pounds) of oysters
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper; 
• Pinch of fennel seeds; 
• 4 tablespoons of cumin;
• 1 bunch of parsley, minced finely
• 1 tablespoon of dried mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Directions:

1. Prepare the sauce. Mince the parsley (and mint, if you use fresh mint). Pound them in the mortar with the pepper and the fennel seeds (or anise seeds or lovage), adding the cumin as you work. Move the mixture to a bowl and then proceed to mix in the honey and fish sauce (or garum), diluting it with the vinegar. 

2.  Finish the dish. Shuck the oysters and reserve the liqueur. Add some of the liqueur to the cumin sauce. Spoon some of the sauce over the shucked oysters and serve immediately. 

ENJOY!