Oyster Chowder

Subject of a Still Life

Beach at Montauk, Long Island, Vicki Smith

Hello,

My nephew and his wife reached out at the beginning of the year to ask if I would be willing to create a still life for them featuring a plate of oysters on the half-shell with the appropriate accompaniments that came to include lemon, oyster forks, a bottle of hot sauce and a vase with flowers. Initially, I could not think of much in the way of personal experience with eating oysters, particularly of the raw variety. As a child, we occasionally ate at a German restaurant in Scotia, NY that served oyster chowder. I remember it as a cozy place with booths covered in red vinyl where my dad would lament that the friendly owner would always show up at our table to chat just as our hot food had arrived. The only reference I could find online to Auchenpaugh’s Restaurant was an ad they ran in the local high school yearbook in 1957.

Here in New Jersey, our local Shoprite sells fresh oysters in the shell, but they do not shuck them for you. I purchased a few and placed them on an ice pack at home to quickly do some sketches. I turned these into a stew after opening them in a very hot oven, most certainly a waste of fresh oysters. Next, I visited Metropolitan Seafood which had an offering of 14 varieties of oysters harvested from points along the Eastern seaboard from as far north as Prince Edward Island. Their shucker sported a handlebar mustache and enthusiastically helped me pick out oysters with the most attractive shells. Again, I used my ice pack for some quick sketches, this time being able to see the actual oysters before they headed back to the fridge.

Oysters are harvested here in New Jersey and on Long Island, but not in the New York Harbor. When Henry Hudson first arrived in 1609 the oysters were so plentiful that you could pluck them right from the 350 square miles of reefs that were an invaluable protection for the shoreline from storm surges. They were a plentiful food source. The indigenous Lenapes wrapped the shells in seaweed and tossed them into the fire to open. Unlike today, oysters were an inexpensive food source and were sold by the Colonists from food carts along with hot corn. Oyster shells were ground and used to pave the roads of lower Manhattan and oyster-paste mortar was used in construction. By 1927 the oyster population was decimated due to overfishing and the pollution from sewage in the harbor, forcing oyster bed businesses to close. The Billion Oyster Project was formed in 2012 and is committed to reviving the ecosystem of the oyster by 2035. A single oyster is capable of filtering 30-50 gallons of water each day, nature’s water purifier. This information was gathered from an interesting article by Temma Ehrenfeld at Vital Choice.

Eating live oysters is not appealing to me and buying them to cook is inefficient, expensive, and most probably would be considered plebeian by any oyster-lover. However, I discovered that fresh oysters packed in water with corn and potatoes make for a delicious chowder.

Oyster Chowder Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup quartered small new potatoes

4 T. butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 yellow onion, chopped

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. coarse black pepper

6 cups milk, either whole or evaporated

8 oz. fresh raw oysters packed in water

1 cup frozen corn

1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped

dash of hot sauce

Directions

Parboil the potatoes in boiling salt water for about 8 minutes. Drain and set aside. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan with a heavy bottom. Sauteé the onions until golden. Add garlic for the final 30 seconds. Add the salt, pepper, milk, oysters, potatoes, and corn to the saucepan. Simmer on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes until the chowder is heated through and the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. Be careful not to scald the milk. Add the parsley shortly before serving. Add hot sauce and extra black pepper to taste.

Sketches for Still Life

Read Pat Willard’s piece on the Whale Creek Oyster Farm in NJ at her always delightful America Eats! Pat’s genuine enjoyment of raw oysters makes her a good resource on this delicacy and the behind-the-scenes operation of an oyster farm is fascinating.

Thanks for reading!

Vicki