Oysters

[L Verge]

We know that Mrs. Gideon Welles was one of the Washington society ladies who got along with Mrs. Lincoln, but there must have been at least one other Cabinet wife who could tolerate her - at least through a dinner engagement.

At our fall dinner and program with the Surratt Society on September 21, the author of a history of the great restaurants in Washington, D.C. over 200 years will be speaking. In his book on Capital Eats, he has included a history of Harvey's Oyster House, which opened in 1858 and remained open until the early-1990s.

In that history, John DeFerrari states that the restaurant was already popular among the soldiers during the Civil War, but that it gained real prestige in 1863, when Secretary Seward and his wife invited President and Mrs. Lincoln to dine there. A special room was set up for them in the back of the restaurant, and Mr. Lincoln enjoyed his first meal of Harvey's steamed oysters - instantly becoming a Harvey's enthusiast.

The author goes on to say that, at that time, the restaurant was steaming five hundred wagonloads of oysters a week and producing huge, fifty-foot-high piles of shells that had to be trucked away. During the Civil War, Harvey's advertised that their little pung boats were breaking the blockade on the Potomac River daily in order to bring nature's best to the D.C. restaurant.

The Chesapeake Bay, Patuxent River, and Potomac River are world-known for their delicious oysters that are prepared in a variety of ways. My daughter once did a paper for college on the effect of the oyster industry on American economy, and the figures up until the mid-1900s are staggering. They had a huge effect on the growth of the railroad system in terms of derived revenue and getting them to a growing audience in America's heartland.

When I was a child, fried oysters or oyster stew were weekly meals at our house - except in the months without Rs. From September through Thanksgiving, we also made the rounds of church suppers that featured fried oysters and ham, fried oysters and turkey, or just fried oysters. Gone are those good days, and gone are the abundant supplies of oysters. We nearly cooked them out of existence by the 1960s.

[PaigeBooth]

Laurie, I have heard Booth loved oysters too. Do you know if there is any truth to that and, if so, did he ever eat at Harvey's?

[Eva Elisabeth]

I bet he loved them for the same reason as did Casanova:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1...-them.html

[RJNorton]

Pass the oysters, please.

Paige, I checked Art Loux's John Wilkes Booth: Day By Day and could find no mention of Harvey's.

[Eva Elisabeth]

(09-12-2014 07:36 PM)L Verge Wrote:  When I was a child, fried oysters or oyster stew were weekly meals at our house - except in the months without Rs. From September through Thanksgiving, we also made the rounds of church suppers that featured fried oysters and ham, fried oysters and turkey, or just fried oysters.

As there are different reasons and myths about the "r-rule" - what were Maryland's reasons for eclipsing the r-months? (Spawn season?)

The oyster thing had always struck me. Lincoln often ate oysters, even in the telegraph office, although he was known for eating simple things and not being decadent - and here eating oysters is nothing for common people. Going to the isle of Sylt (Germany's "Martha's Vineyard") or Hamburg to eat oysters is rather something some people like to boast with, eating oysters is more than treating yourself with a deli, it has a somewhat decadent touch to it, and the price is per piece. Once a year at the occasion one of the biggest international sailing races, you would also get them here at a French food stall for ~ 4.75 per piece (thus Casanova would have had to invest ~240$ in one breakfast), and this is said to be cheap. It is also something to boast with as quite some of the people who go to Sylt to dine on oysters confess they don't actually enjoy them as they are only served raw and alive (as Jonathan Swift said, "He was a bold man that first ate an oyster") - the first time I learned of a different preparation was Herndon's crazy oyster stew (but he was drunk). And I found it odd that ever-broke Herndon ordered oysters...

This all didn't match my image of Abraham Lincoln, even though he was the president. Although I can guess the answer from Laurie's post I'd like to know - are oysters in the US food for common people, too? Can and do they afford eating oysters? Are oysters not eaten raw at all?
BTW, how does it come that so many foods are fried? That really struck me in the US, once even the Cesar's Salad I ordered (looking forward to something fresh and crisp) turned out to be a fried chicory. Is there any particular (historical?) reason?

---

The "r-rule" traces back to the ancient Romans, on this site is a wonderful outline:
http://www.andersonsneck.com/the-r-rule-demystified/
"Romans loved their parties. Oysters were a great luxury, and they were served as a vivacious prelude to Roman feasts. The great Roman Chef Apicius is credited with finding a way to safely pack fresh oysters on their journey from the sea to the Emperor Trajan in Rome. So if oysters could be safely transported, why the aversion to oyster eating in the summer? The answer can be found by reading no other than the great works of Cicero himself.
Cicero was obsessed with finding out why the R Month myth was so pervasive in his exhaustive treatise “De Ostreis”. The practice of avoiding oysters in the non-R months had been ingrained in Roman culture for over 400 years. He was perplexed by this practice because at one time it was commonplace for the lower class to safely eat oysters in the city of Rome year round. Cicero found a quite simple explanation and he uncovered the straightforward, yet disgusting answer to the mystery. As is often the case with human nature, unabated greed is the answer to the riddle.

Because the freshest oysters could be packed and shipped inland where they would command top dollar, it is no surprise the best oysters found their way to Roman city markets and tables. These oysters were purchased in Rome year round. The lower class working Romans even ate oysters in the summer months with no iIl effects. However, the upper class Romans never ate oysters in months without an R as it was considered disgusting and unhealthy. But why the avoidance of the the tasty bivalves by the wealthy Romans who could most easily afford the luxurious treats?Well, just like today, wealthy Romans often went to the beach during the summer to what they called “watering places.” These Pompeiian excursionists feasted on oysters while staying at the hotels at the waterfront. However, as described before, the best and freshest oysters were packed and shipped to Rome where they commanded the highest prices. Only the oysters of poorest quality remained at the waterfront where they invariably aged and anyone in the know would avoid them at all cost.

That didn’t stop the beach hoteliers from trying to make a buck and sell these rancid oysters to their wealthy inland guests on their vacation stays. According to a 19th century New York Times article on Cicero’s oyster writings, the taste of these oysters at the water were so bad that even in their best condition “it was impossible for the guest to tell by the taste whether the oysters eaten by him were fresh and wholesome or aged and unwholesome.” To make matters worse, the hotel owners would attempt to “freshen up their refuse oysters with sulphate of copper, a most objectionable condiment.” Unsurprisingly these wealthy Romans became violently sick when they ate oysters on their summer beach vacations. However, the lower class workers who could not afford summer trips to the beach, were happily gorging away on the fresh oysters back in the city of Rome.

This summer beach sickness caused by greedy hoteliers was not understood until 400 years later due to Cicero’s detective work. But by that time the damage was already done and could not be unwound, even by the great Cicero. The summer oyster sickness was so feared that oyster eating was banned across the board in non-R months and incorporated into Roman law. This falsely constructed R Rule went viral so to speak and was passed down through the centuries as an inherited best practice. It even survived in various forms in 19th and 20th century American state laws. What would have been more helpful, would have been a ban on selling rancid oysters. The lawmakers should have demanded that oysters were safely packed and stored. However, at that time, the lawmakers did not know what the shady hoteliers were doing."

[Jim Garrett]

Booth's planning meeting with his co-conspirators was held in a private upstair room at Gautier's. It was oysters and champaign. George Harvey was quite a personality. Erik Dorr, of the Gettysburg Museum of History has a lock of Lincoln's hair with the provenance leading back to George Harvey.

[L Verge]

I know of very few Marylanders who did not/do not enjoy oysters - if they are prepared properly. For myself, I have tried oysters on the half-shell and oysters Rockefeller several times and cannot acquire a taste for them, no matter how many condiments are recommended. Now, fried oysters, steamed oysters, oyster stew are another matter! Fried oysters are my favorite. When I was a child, they were plentiful enough that we would pat three and four of them together to form one fried "glob." The scarcity today causes restaurants to fry them individually, but they are still delicious. Just hand me a basket of them and a bottle of ketchup or cocktail sauce!

As for the question about why everything is fried, I can't answer that other than to say "It's how Southerners were raised." Notice I use the word "were" because the health fanatics are really putting the brakes on fried foods today. I suspect that the frying technique came from the farmers in the South raising an abundance of hogs that were butchered after the first heavy frost and every part used in some manner (even bladders used in covering canning jars or as "balloons" for the children's delight). The rendering of the fat created a lot of lard that could fry a lot of things.

Eva, I really got an education with your Roman lesson on oysters. As for not eating them in months without Rs, I was always told that oysters were best when coming from cool waters. May-August in Maryland means warm waters.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks, Laurie. So oysters are affordable for everyone?! As for "oysters were best when coming from cool waters", in cool waters <20℃ (70℉), oysters wouldn't spawn, and if they do they neither look nor taste (it's said) well. There are some other "r-rule" origins, e.g. that due to exessive consume and export to England and Holland, in 1759, the French prohibited oysterfishing from April - October in order to protect the oyster population, and protect the animals especially during spawn season.

Laurie, when researching "oysters in the US", I found this BTW: "While dredges collect oysters more quickly, they heavily damage the beds, and their use is highly restricted. Until 1965, Maryland limited dredging to sailboats, and even since then motor boats can be used only on certain days of the week." Also I read that the old-time Indians BBQed them over open fire.

PS: The Baltic Sea isn't salty enough for oysters (actually the salt concentration equals that of tears, so you can open your eyes under water), so no oysters here. But one of my favorite birds is the oystercatcher (and these we do have):
   

[L Verge]

Here in Maryland, oysters are very reasonable compared to the mighty crabs. However, in the 1800s, oysters and crabs were both considered food for the poor. Years ago, we did a cookbook for Surratt House and were amazed to read in our research that crabs were reserved for the slaves. Nowadays, some neighbors have to combine their wallets in order to purchase a bushel of crabs to share. As far as hard shell crabs are concerned, they came keep them - now soft shell sandwiches are a whole different matter on my part.

I'm at work today and have been googling some sites on oysters. One fact noted was that New York in the 1860s had oyster street vendors and considered them fast food. They also advertised oysters for a penny a dozen. In 1877 records, the Fulton Fish Market in New York is shown as selling 50,000 pounds of oysters a day.

I should clarify also that, when we're talking about not eating oysters in months that have no Rs in their name, we're referring to raw oysters - mainly because the spawning season causes a change in texture and taste. Here in Maryland, we have also had to contend with what we call the "red tide," which is a form of algae that can affect a number of fish forms.

I have also learned that an oyster can change gender a number of times in its life. I'm not even going to touch that one!

Mention was made earlier about Casanova enjoying his oysters. I found a reference that claimed the gentleman ate 50 oysters a day with his afternoon "apperitif" in order to increase his libido. It makes sense since oysters are the greatest single source of dietary zinc, which is a major source for testosterone.

[Eva Elisabeth]

(09-13-2014 11:23 AM)L Verge Wrote:  Here in Maryland, oysters are very reasonable compared to the mighty crabs.

It's exactly v.v. here!

(09-13-2014 11:23 AM)L Verge Wrote:  Mention was made earlier about Casanova enjoying his oysters. I found a reference that claimed the gentleman ate 50 oysters a day.

Roman Emperor Vitellius (15 – 69) beat this, once dining on 1000, and Henry IV was said enjoying 400 oysters as a starter to a multicourse meal.

[LincolnToddFan]

[When I was a child, fried oysters or oyster stew were weekly meals at our house - except in the months without Rs. From September through Thanksgiving, we also made the rounds of church suppers that featured fried oysters and ham, fried oysters and turkey, or just fried oysters. Gone are those good days, and gone are the abundant supplies of oysters. We nearly cooked them out of existence by the 1960s. ]//quote

Lord, you folks sure knew how to eat Laurie...my mouth is watering just reading this. I love fried oysters!

But I have never tasted oyster stew.

[STS Lincolnite]

Living in a land-locked state in the upper midwest and far from the ocean, oysters were much harder to come by when I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s (and probably at a higher price point too). The only time we had them was as oyster stew on Christmas.

While traveling as an adult, I have been exposed to many different oyster preparations and I have to say fried are my favorite (a nice New Oleans fried oyster po' boy would be delicious right now!) with my fondly remembered oyster stew a close second.

[Susan Higginbotham]

They were cheap in England at the time. Dickens' Sam Weller remarks:

'It's a wery remarkable circumstance, Sir,' said Sam, 'that poverty and oysters always seem to go together.'
'I don't understand you, Sam,' said Mr. Pickwick.
'What I mean, sir,' said Sam, 'is, that the poorer a place is, the greater call there seems to be for oysters. Look here, sir; here's a oyster-stall to every half-dozen houses. The street's lined vith 'em. Blessed if I don't think that ven a man's wery poor, he rushes out of his lodgings, and eats oysters in reg'lar desperation.'

[Eva Elisabeth]

Just came across this account by Laura Freudenthal (lovely name) in "We Saw Lincoln Shot": "We all felt we needed something to quiet our nerves...so we walked down to Harvey's - you know that place was famed for its steamed oysters and a glass of wine."

[Donna McCreary]

Oysters were often served in Springfield, IL pre-Civil War era. John Todd Stuart wrote to his daughter about the food served at a spring wedding. The guests dined on oyster salad, cake and ice cream.
When a new attorney opened his own practice, it was his social duty to take his fellow attorneys to the oyster bar for a celebrational feast.
When the Long Nine were able to rally enough votes to move the state capital to Springfield in 1837, that evening, all of the legislatures were invited
to Capp’s Tavern for a victory celebration. Ninian Edwards paid the total bill of $223.50 for “cigars, oysters, almonds, and raisins.”
I don't know if oysters were cheap in Springfield, but they were readily available.