Cooking/Maryland/History
November 18, 2016 9:16 AM   Subscribe

A Maryland Food History Blog: 300 Years of Black Cooking in St. Mary’s County---Free State Oyster Omelet ---Interview with a Maryland Waterman---Mrs. Kitching’s Clam Chowder
posted by josher71 (16 comments total) 28 users marked this as a favorite
 
Awesome! There goes my afternoon!
posted by Dhertiiboi at 9:44 AM on November 18, 2016 [1 favorite]


That oyster omelet sounds fucking amazing.
posted by jonmc at 10:35 AM on November 18, 2016 [2 favorites]


This tastes like home.
posted by desuetude at 12:02 PM on November 18, 2016


That oyster omelet sounds fucking amazing.

Damn straight, I now have my dinner planned (thanks josher71!).

/trundles off to try to find the 70's version of the Maryland Seafood Cookbook
posted by porpoise at 1:14 PM on November 18, 2016 [1 favorite]


There are a bunch on Amazon and Abebooks - the publishing date appears to be 1980. There's a google books entry, but no "look inside" preview.
posted by porpoise at 1:18 PM on November 18, 2016


What a great find! Thanks a lot!
posted by Malingering Hector at 2:35 PM on November 18, 2016 [1 favorite]


This is delightful. Thank you!
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:06 PM on November 18, 2016 [1 favorite]


I totally ordered a 1980 Maryland Seafood Cookbook; it was only $0.01 but the shipping price was $17 (!!) to Canada - then converted into CDN. Expected delivery date is last two months of 2016.

I really hope it's the 'right' one.


Omelette turned out great; I flour battered the oysters rather than breadcrumbing them. But then again, I dredge box oysters (the ones that come in a plastic tub, like box wine) in corn starch, then rinse well, before working with them. Not entirely sure why, other than getting rid of potential macroscopic pests, and getting control of the oyster mucus can be useful.

The tricky part was not to overcook the oysters; cutting them into quarters helped and adding them (and the other omlette fillings) after the egg spread got a crust.
posted by porpoise at 7:54 PM on November 18, 2016 [2 favorites]


I'm glad people liked the link!
posted by josher71 at 5:50 AM on November 19, 2016


Love this, thank you for posting!
posted by nightrecordings at 9:00 AM on November 19, 2016 [1 favorite]


I went to see what their coverage of Oyster Stew was, but nothing. Oh well.

I became obsessed with this dish and recipes for this dish last spring after a short road trip through the Eastern Shore (spoiler: it is delicious, whether you go for Baltimore-style or Eastern Shore-style or Virginia-style). At the end of this Eastern Shore + Oysters history, there are many recipes from over the past 325 years.
posted by julen at 1:20 PM on November 19, 2016


That's a good article, julen; a little bit surprised that it didn't mention that oyster stew is considered a winter/Christmas food in the interior because oysters could only last long enough to be shipped during the cold months.

Oyster stew has been a winter holiday tradition of mine for the last few years.

Some great suggestions from the history of oyster stew in that article; one version modified with 'egg drop', sacrificial oysters just for the broth base, and (!how had I not thought of that?) adding mushrooms.

Also from the article:
Oyster Bisque[8]
1963

The unusual thing about this is the inclusion of green food coloring. I cannot figure out why anyone would want a green soup, except maybe as a St. Patty’s Day dish.
Answer: 1963
posted by porpoise at 3:31 PM on November 19, 2016


This is a great find, thanks for posting it!
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:41 PM on November 19, 2016


Yes!

My midwestern forbears used have to have oysters and other seafood shipped in from the Coast on trains and boat to their towns. It was a big treat (much like my Pennsylvania forbears in the 1910s and 1920s getting oranges sent to them from Florida cousins at Christmas), and I'm convinced they splurged on it to counteract the lutefisk they ate dutifully once a year as some sort of nod to the old country.

I will say that in making the Oyster Stew variations Cream > 2% Milk > Half and Half > Condensed Milk (I mean, seriously, avoid the condensed milk recipes).
posted by julen at 10:38 PM on November 19, 2016


Ugh, I could see that condensed milk would be horrible... but what about evaporated milk?

It could be... not... (too) terrible?

With my lactose intolerance, I can still eat stuff made with cream but not with milk/half-half.
posted by porpoise at 1:17 AM on November 20, 2016


I think that if you reconstituted the evaporated milk with a tiny part oyster brine, part water, part almond milk, it might work.

Actually, trying to make this with just an almond milk might be an interesting experiment.
posted by julen at 6:52 AM on November 20, 2016 [1 favorite]


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