Cooking oysters is sacrilege to those who treasure the bivalves’ ability to distill the flavor of a particular place. The heat and additional flavors disrupt the geographic purity and muddle the travelogue. But the oysters of warmer waters tend to be fatter and less nuanced than their cold-water cousins, which may explain the long history of baked oysters on the Gulf Coast. Asked to name the variety of her favorite oyster, Sue Wespy Ceravolo, the former Garde Manger at the Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans, stared for a second and said: “We have oysters. Oysters are oysters in Louisiana.”
The city’s original claim to baked-oyster fame was Oysters Rockefeller, invented (or at least popularized) by Antoine Alciatore, the founder of Antoine’s restaurant. Today, wood-fired spicy oysters are the rage. Each turns the oyster shell into an individual casserole, each tells a tale of their time and place, and they are a logical progression after a course of raw oysters—and before an oyster stew.
Oysters Rockefeller-Style
New Orleans, Louisiana
This dish was adapted from the first known recipe for Oysters Rockefeller to appear in print. It was included in The Revised Edition of the Up-to-Date Cook Book compiled under the auspices of the Ladies Aid Sewing Society of New Orleans, first published in 1915.
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
- 2 scallions, green and white parts, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- pinch of kosher salt
- 2 dozen oysters on the half shell
- 4 slices bacon, each cut into 6 squares
- 1 packed cup fresh spinach, stemmed and finely shredded
- 1/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
1. Preheat the broiler.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the butter, parsley, scallions, cayenne, and salt.
3. Place the oysters on a baking sheet or broiler pan and cover each with a generous 1 teaspoon of the butter and a square of bacon.
4. Divide the spinach evenly among the oysters and pack it on. Divide the bread crumbs among the oysters, packing them on top of spinach.
5. Broil the oysters about 5 minutes, until the bread crumbs are lightly browned and the mixture is bubbly. Serve immediately.
Serves 12
Sue Wespy Cerevolo’s Wood-Fired Spicy Oysters
New Orleans, Louisiana
Like Oysters Rockefeller, this recipe was born in a restaurant. But no one is sure which restaurant. Sue Wespy Ceravola remembers seeing wood-fired oysters around in the 1990s. Topped with butter and sriracha (a searing Asian chili sauce that has less vinegar than traditional Louisiana-style hot sauces) as well as anchovies, which boost the flavor of the local oysters, she says this way of cooking oysters has been spreading like kudzu ever since: “At home, people like to get a bushel of oysters, invite people over, and fire up the grill. In restaurants, every chef adds a little twist—but the main ingredients remain the same. It mostly comes down to technique. In order to get a strong, wood-smoked oyster, you need to shuck the oysters and place them in a melted butter so they can soak up the flavor, scrub the shells and then heat the shells alone over a screaming-hot fire. Then you place the oyster and its juice back in the shell and top it with the butter. It starts sizzling almost immediately, and doesn’t get overcooked in the couple minutes it takes to melt the butter and let the flavors marry.”
2 dozen large oysters
For the compound butter:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 anchovy fillets, rinsed, patted dry, and minced (to equal 1 1/2 teaspoons)
4 to 6 garlic cloves, minced (to equal 2 tablespoons)
1 small shallot, minced (to equal 1 tablespoon)
3 drops sriracha sauce, or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh chili or red-pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsleyFor the topping:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese1. Prepare a charcoal grill or preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
2. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pint container. Open the oysters, pour any juices through the strainer, remove the meat from the shells, and place the meat in the strainer to allow the juice to accumulate. Refrigerate the juice and the oyster meat. Use a brush to thoroughly scrub 24 of the shells.
3. To make the compound butter: Combine the butter, anchovies, and the reserved oyster juice in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the garlic, shallot, sriracha sauce, chili, white pepper, and lemon juice and pulse to combine. Transfer to a bowl and use a rubber spatula to fold in the parsley. Transfer 1/4 to a container, cover, and refrigerate. Place the bowl with the remaining 3/4 of the compound butter in a warm place to melt.
4. To make the topping: Melt the butter in a small cast iron skillet over medium heat. When the skillet is hot, add the bread crumbs and toast lightly, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl. When cool, stir in the Parmesan cheese.
5. When the compound butter is melted, add the oysters and stir gently to coat them. Place the scrubbed shells on a grill rack directly over the fire or on a baking sheet in the oven and heat until very hot. Use a tablespoon to place an oyster and a little of the melted butter in each shell. Place about 1 teaspoon of topping on each oyster. Top with a chunk of cold compound butter and about 1 teaspoon of the topping and cook until the oysters begin to plump and the butter is melted. Serve immediately.
