Foods of England - Oyster Pie

Oyster Pie

Fish – Shellfish
Historic

“To bake Oysters shels and all” .. a closed pie containing oysters in their shells with cloves and butter (Huswife 1594, Wooley 1672, etc)

Original Receipt in Huswife 1594;

To bake Oysters shels and all.
TAKE the best Oysters faire shaled, and the fairest & smoothest shels, wash a good manie, and to make them smooth, rub one shel against another, and when they are very clean make your pie: and then let your grauie run through a strayner of your Oysters and wash your oysters very clean, and season them with Pepper and salt. Then take out of the deepest shelles, and put into them three Oysters and three cloues, and a litle peece of butter, and lay a flat shell vpon that, and thus set your pie with the shels and the Oysters in them till they be full, and in voyde places put in a peece of Butter: then close your pie, and set it into the Ouen and when it hath stood there half an hour draw your pie, and then put in a sawcer full of your grauie. Then put the pie into the Ouen againe, and so let it stand one other halfe hower, and then serue it forth.

Original Receipt in ‘The Accomplisht Cook‘ by Robert May, 1660 (Robert May 1660);

To make an Oyster Pye otherways.
Take a pottle of oysters, being parboil’d in their own liquor, beard and dry them, then season them with large mace, whole pepper, a little beaten ginger, salt, butter, and marrow, then close it up and bake it, and being baked, make a lear with white wine the oyster liquor, and one onion, or rub the ladle with garlick you beat it up with all; it being boil’d, put in a pound of butter, with a minced lemon, a faggot of sweet herbs, and being boil’d put in the liquor.

‘The forms of Oyster Pyes’
from Robert May 1660

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