Oysters Rockefeller - a recipe

Antoine’s is just one of many wonderful restaurants in New Orleans but it is universally accepted as the one that created the recipe for Oysters Rockefeller. Marilyn was lucky enough to find a difficult to find edition of Antoine’s Restaurant – since 1840 Cookbook published in 1979 and written by Roy F. Guste, Jr., a fifth generation proprietor of the fabled restaurant. Antoine’s recipe for Oysters Rockefeller is a secret but Guste, Jr. provides some insight into its creation.

According to Guste, Jr. the recipe for Oysters Rockefeller was created by Jules Alciatore, his Great-Grandfather. Snails from Europe were in short supply at the time. Unlike snails, oysters were abundant in New Orleans but almost no one had experimented with eating them. Alciatore concocted a sauce that was so rich and magnificent that he named it after John Rockefeller, one of the richest men in the world at the time. Guste, Jr. estimated that the restaurant had already served more than three and a half million servings by 1979.

Guste, Jr. went on to say that “As many times as I have seen recipes printed in books and articles, I can honestly say that I have never found the original outside of Antoine’s.”

This is likely true as recipes are many for the fabled dish. Here is the best version of the dish that I could find, at http://www.gumbopages.com/food/app/erstas-rock.html. Check out this site as it features even more history on the recipe. To taste the real thing, you’ll still have to visit the Big Easy.

Oysters Rockefeller

Two dozen fresh oysters on the half shell, oyster liquor reserved
4 springs flat-leaf Italian parsley
4 green onions (including the green part)
A handful of fresh celery leaves
At least 6 fresh tarragon leaves
At least 6 fresh chervil leaves
1/2 cup dried fresh French bread crumbs (homemade, not out of a can)
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (hey, it's supposed to be "rich enough for Rockefeller"!) Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Tabasco or Crystal hot sauce, to taste
2 tablespoons Herbsaint or Pernod (optional)
Rock salt or kosher salt

Mince together the parsley, green onions, celery leaves, tarragon and chervil as finely as you possibly can. Take as much time as you need. Mince them more finely than anything you've ever minced in your life. Mix this together with the bread crumbs and the softened butter into a mortar and mix the whole thing together into a smooth paste, but do leave a little texture to it.

(You can do this in a blender or food processor, but you'll leave a lot of it behind, stuck to the inside, and it'll be just easier to do it by hand in a mortar; you'll have an easier time getting it all out, and you'll have the satisfaction of serving something truly hand-made.) Season to taste with salt and pepper, Tabasco or Crystal and, if you like, the Herbsaint.

Preheat your broiler. Lower the top rack to the middle of the oven. Spread the rock salt (preferable) or kosher salt over a large baking sheet; this will keep the oysters level under the broiler, so that they won't tip over. Moisten the salt very slightly. Plant the shells in the salt, making sure they're level. Place one oyster in each shell, plus a little bit of oyster liquor. Spoon an equal amount of the prepared herb/butter mixture over each oyster.

Place the baking sheet on the middle rack and broil until the edges of the oysters have curled and the herb butter is bubbling, about five minutes. Watch carefully to make sure you don't overdo it. Serve immediately.

YIELD: Six servings of four oysters each (regular people-sized serving), or four servings of six oysters each (New Orleanian-sized serving)

Louisiana Mystery Writer