All the Presidents, Man

I know the season premier of that overdone talent show was this week, so I'm not sure how many people strayed into the upper-reaches of their cable dial to watch the first two episodes of the History Channel's documentary series The Presidents.  The first night's episodes detailed the lives and presidencies of the founding fathers straight through James Polk.  Last night's spanned the years from Zach Taylor through Chester A. Arthur. While I wouldn't call these groundbreaking biographies, they do seem to offer a nice overview of the men--and women--who shaped the country.  So far, the one bit of trivia that has fascinated me the most (other than coming to the conclusion that William Dafoe could play a fairly convincing John C. Calhoun) was finding out that there was or is such a thing as oyster ice cream.  Apparently, this disturbing concoction was a favorite of first lady Dolley Madison, wife of James.  Curious as to just what this was (and hoping that oyster was a 19th-century synonym for caramel) I decided to consult the internerd for an answer.  Because I know some of you may read this while enjoying your favorite snack, I've hidden the details below the fold.

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I was able to get the recipe from this site, which reprints a few recipes from The Virginia Housewife: or, Methodical Cook by Mary Randolph (Philadelphia: E. H. Butler & Co., 1860).  To make oyster ice cream, first you must make oyster soup:

Wash and drain two quarts of oysters, put them on with three quarts of water, three onions chopped up, two or three slices of lean ham, pepper and salt; boil it till reduced one-half, strain it through a sieve, return the liquid into the pot, put in one quart of fresh oysters, boil it till they are sufficiently done, and thicken the soup with four spoonsful of flour, two gills of rich cream, and the yelks of six new laid eggs beaten well; boil it a few minutes after the thickening is put in. Take care it does not curdle, and that the flour is not in lumps; serve it up with the last oysters that were put in. If the flavour of thyme be agreeable, you may put in a little, but take care that it does not boil in it long enough to discolour the soup.

Then you simply take this rich soup, strain it from the oysters, chill, and serve.  I'm guessing the same can be done with catfish soup.  Let me know if you try it.

Oh, and this ice cream can still be found in abundance in Japan.  Proof here.

Comments

[Japanese Ice Cream]

I never new Oyster ice cream was an american thing. I have posted about Japanese Oyster Ice Cream here, http://japaneseicecream.blogspot.com/2007/06/oyster-ice-cream.html>Japanese oyster ice cream
And even Japanese soft cream (ice cream) with fried oysters http://japaneseicecream.blogspot.com/2007/11/fried-oysters-in-soft-serve-ice-cream.html>fried oysters in soft serve ice cream (more common than the first one) - both are yuck and my guess this would be as well :)

[Mike]

I just watched this episode of The Presidents (which tells you how deep the queue is on my DVR) and was struck by the same strange fact about Dolley's predilection for oyster ice cream.

And while I didn't immediately associate William Dafoe with John C. Calhoun, you're right about their resemblance. As Calhoun aged, he became one scary looking old man.

[Carlton]

oh baby, yum.