Oysters make a wonderfully indulgent offering on Christmas day: there’s something brilliantly theatrical about presenting a platter of them that immediately signals a sense of occasion. They create a moment of ceremony before the main event.
The beauty of oysters at Christmas is they cut through all that impending richness — the duck fat, the butter, the cream — with their clean, mineral snap. They’re elegant without being fussy, luxurious without being heavy, and they give everyone something to talk about while you’re still in that first-glass-of-Champagne territory. Below, from his new book Rick Stein’s Christmas — Recipes, Memories & Stories for the Festive Season, the chef shares two of his favourite festive recipes.
Oysters with American cocktail sauce
You may wonder why I’ve included a recipe for raw oysters, apart from wanting to explain the technique of opening them, but I have to declare a secret passion for this sauce with tomato ketchup and horseradish. It is always served in American oyster bars but never seen in the UK. I earnestly suggest you give it a try.
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
For the American cocktail sauce
1 tbsp creamed horseradish (or a little more if you like heat)
Optional extras: a dash of Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce and/or lemon juice
Method
To open oysters, hold an oyster in one hand, well wrapped in a tea towel. Push the point of a knife into the oyster’s hinge. Work the knife and oyster backwards and forwards, applying a little pressure. The hinge will break open quite easily.
Slide the knife under the shell and sever the ligament, also known as the adductor muscle, that joins the oyster to the shell. If you’re serving oysters raw, as in this recipe, I think it’s best not to cut the meat from the shell as the oyster looks much more appetising if undisturbed.
Mix together the ingredients for the sauce just before serving. Arrange the oysters on plates and spoon a little of the sauce over each one.
Oysters Kilpatrick
The following is a quote from my Australian friend Richard Glover: “I used to be in the ‘how dare they’ camp about cooked oyster dishes, until I went with Matt Parris and Julian to Mollymook Golf Club, and Matt insisted on ordering oysters Kilpatrick. Julian and I demurred, but then thought, ‘Why not?’
“Oh, my goodness – how delicious they are! The bacon is crispy, even a little charred, and the Worcestershire sauce forms a sort of flavour bomb that somehow doesn’t entirely drown out the fresh oyster below.”
See above for tips on opening oysters and because this is a cooked dish, I suggest you cut the meat from the shells.
Serves: 2–4
Ingredients
12 freshly shucked oysters on the half shell
12 unsmoked, streaky bacon rashers, cut into thin slivers
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Method
Place a thick layer of rock salt over the base of a shallow ovenproof dish. Rest the oysters on this salt bed, then sprinkle the bacon slivers over the oysters.
Preheat an overhead grill.
In a small pan, heat the Worcestershire sauce and butter to simmering point, then spoon this over each oyster. Grind a little black pepper over each one.
Immediately place under the preheated grill and cook until the bacon is crisp. Serve at once.
Extracted from Rick Stein’s Christmas — Recipes, Memories & Stories for the Festive Season, BBC Books, £28, photography James Murphy
Dining and Cooking