Hattiesburg daily progress. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 18??-1909, 1903-11-13
EATING THE OYSTER.
AGre Are Many Ways of Preparing
Them to Suit the Varying =
Tastes of People.


How to eat oysters is problem -nat
has been The lifetime study of the fro-
prietor OF an avenue hosiery. says he
lsIEeshfngton Star Nowhere in the city
is this burning problem more fully
threshed out than in this oyster head
quarters, where have gathered earnest
worshipers at the shrine oysterial for
SO long a time that mems regulations
az connoisseurs are proved only by
years When they die and are forgot
ten in other walks of life you can stu
hear them spoken of admiringly If their
ability was established and depreclat-
ingly if their oyster choices were not
worthy of the quiet, constant patrons OF
the place.
Strange" said the host the other day,
for he is more host than the proprietor,
the difference in taste shown by loV-
ers of oysters in the matter OF serving
their favorite bivalve. My patrons
might almost say clients-show especial
difference in the matter of the raw oys-
ter.
Don't be surprised when. tell you
| that horseradish, tobasco, Worcester
shire, vinegar, catsup, celery, salt,
lemon, cayenne and black pepper, salt,
melted butter, sugar and even olive oil
are used individually and in wonder
full variety of combinations as condi-
ments of raw oysters.
"Horseradish and lemon have sup
planted the old-fashioned vinegar, salt
and pepper combination, and | might
say fully rs per cent of oyster lovers use
them, and them alone, to give zest to
their oysters. But imagine prepare
ton of powdered sugar and sweet oil
on a raw oyster. | have seen it scores
of times. Worse than that. mixture
of French mustard and tomato catsup
or melted butter and sugar, or horse
radish, Worcestershire, tobasco and cell
cry salt, or lemon, vinegar and sugar.
with sprinkling of cayenne. These
are no more unusual with those who
eat oysters six days in week than is
the practice of submerging an innocent
oyster in red bath of tomato catsup.
This gave rise to the question one
day by one of party of four to another:
What sort of oysters do you usually eat
with your catsup?'
"Olive oil has become fad with some
In oyster service. Requests for oysters
fried in olive oil or olive oil in stew
and roast are frequent. The several
condiments have named are used ex-
tensively in fancy stews and roasts.
| "a lawyer whose name for many
years was most celebrated in the list
of criminal lawyers at the local bar used
to have his oysters brought to him in
the pan, so that he might prepare a
sauce of horseradish, Worcestershire,
tobasco and mustard, in which the BIZ
valves were stewed. Another, also a
jurist of note, insisted upon a gener-
Gus addition of sugar to every stew.
The color of an oyster and even the
appearance of its shell are made points
of preference One insists that each
oyster shell shall be scrubbed and all
seaweed and dark sea growth removed;
another insists upon those bearing the
most barnacles.
"A peculiar fallacy is the matter Of
color of the oyster itself Now, an oys-
ter takes it's color from its shell. If
the she'll be dark. so is the oyster, and
If light the same rule holds good. Few
persons know that if the darkest oyster
Is rubbed gently with piece of linen
1t soon becomes white and clear. There
Is absolutely no difference, as far as
taste and wholesomeness are concerned,
between light and dark oyster, popu-
lar opinion to the contrary notwith-
standing.
when you depart from the realm of
oysters raw you enter into a problem
of plain milk, Boston and box stews,
shell roasts, roasts on toast, boils. broils
Oh toast. Baltimore broils and many
| others, clear to the line of oyster cock
tails and oyster omelets. find the real
oyster lover, however, the connoisseur,
takes his oysters more or less straight,
and principally in two styles. The first
Is raw, with the tiniest dash of lemon
Juice or horseradish, and the second, and
TO my mind the very best best of all, the
| Shell IodsI, Win HUE mtileu Uutler
and little salt and pepper
Zone who has a fondness for oys-
tiers to begin with never tires of the
savory delights of shell roast. With
lnpunity and without a fear of ever
growing stated or tired one can eat oys-
ters raw or oysters roasted in the shell
ass days out of every year, with the
added day in leap year,