Oysters: A Culinary Celebration

by Joan Reardon

Book Overview

With more than 75 quotes by literary lions from Shakespeare to Thurber, this cookbook's 200 delectable recipes offer just the appetizer. of color photos. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0940160269
• ISBN13: 9780940160262
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Parnassus Imprints
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Best Yet!

This oyster cook book has the best and easiest recepties to use. It is straight to the point and the end results are wonderful.

A wonderful book on oysters!

This is a book written by a woman in love with oysters, and her love can be contagious, through her luscious recipes and well written interesting commentary. Each of 185 recipes brings out yet another facet of these succulent savory delights. She starts with oysters on the half shell, with lemon and black pepper, and quickly introduces 6 sauces for raw oysters: Mignonete, Spiced Chili Sauce, Tomato and Horseradish, Dill, Remoulade, and Remoulade -New Orleans Style. It gets better, as Oysters with a Splash are accented with citrus and vinegar, and are served with iced vodka. The naked oysters get covered as Spinach-Oyster Rolls with Mustard Sauce, or beneath a creamed mushroom sauce as Oysters Forestiere. There are canape recipes, 20 oyster soups, 6 salads, numerous vegetables even grace the oyster's presence. They are deep fried, stir-fried, sauteed, baked, and broiled-grilled. This leads up to over 20 main courses, with such oyster preparations as Polenta Torta, Conchiglie, Hangtown Fry, Turkey Croquettes, Oies, Stuffing, and with the Noble Oyster accompanied by even Veal Rouladens, Scallops, sole and in Jambalaya. Rarely does a "Single Ingredient" cookbook reach such excellence in simple clear instructions, and a selection of recipes that nost home cooks can readily make and enjoy. If you have wondered of ways to serve oysters, or are just curious about this delicacy, buy this book now, and get cookin!

Almost 200 oyster recipes

Don't miss Joan Reardon's OLYSTERS: A CULINARY CELEBRATION either: it may lack some of the colorful photos of competing slimmer competitors on the topic; but what is lacking in color is more than made up for in practical applications: almost 200 oyster recipes, to be specific. Reardon is a culinary historian with a doctorate in English and a culinary certificate from the School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College: her guide is bursting with oyster flavor and a wide range of dishes from salads to entrees. Yes, there is a color identification section which chooses clear photos of North America's most distinctive oysters, but it's the recipes which are the meat of her cookbook, here.

Every Major Food Deserves Such an Outstanding Treatment

Every important foodstuff deserves a book like this.The author, Joan Reardon, has both literary and culinary credentials of the first water. She has a doctorate in English literature, has graduated from a major culinary school, and was an associate of M. F. K. Fisher, and is a biographer of that writer. She is also a chronicler of Poetry by American women. Oysters deserve no less a scribe. A small reward for these academic credentials is that unlike many other writers, the author gives the correct translation of the French term `hors d'oeuvres'. I feel I am in the hands of someone whose opinion I can trust.At the very least, this book is a classic single topic cookbook similar to recent books done on duck, salmon, potatoes and eggs, the kind I find eminently useful in one's permanent culinary library.The chapters cover all the usual topics, these being:AppetizersSoupsSalads & VegetablesBreads and PastriesOyster EntreesOysters and EntreesThe book ends with a glossary of oyster species, pests, preservatives, sources, and terminology. The book succeeds better than many other single subject cookbooks in that many general guidelines are given to each chapter. But these introductions don't stop at simply informing you of interesting culinary tidbits. Each is an essay celebrating its topic in a way I have rarely seen outside some early writings by Elizabeth David and Paula Wolfert. The paean to bread ranges from Chaucer to the Chinese. Some of the culinary suggestions in the bread chapter I have never seen, even in books specializing in sandwiches.Each chapter is also leavened with appropriate quotes from everyone from Julius Caesar to Shakespeare to M. F. K. Fisher. In many hands, this feature may have no more impact than some badly done drawings or photographs. But Reardon makes them work.Most dishes are provided a pairing with an alcoholic beverage. Suggestions are not limited to wine. They include sake, tequila, beer, and other notable potables.The central section of color photographs provides a gallery of oyster species with their geographical source.This book is a joy to read and a delightful culinary resource. There are books at this price which offer half as many recipes and none of the literary delights. Very highly recommended.

Perfect

This book is amazing in what it has to say, and how it says it. I enjoyed this book, and would recomend it to anyone who likes oysters.