Recipe no. 140 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 74.
Ingredients
- oysters
- small fish
- onions
- carrots
- bay leaf
- white wine
- butter
- flour
- egg yolks
- breadcrumbs
Preparation
- Opening and preparing the oystersOpen your oysters, then lay them, still on the shell they are attached to, on an ovenproof dish, without spilling the liquor; put them in the oven just long enough to poach; 2 minutes are enough.
- Preparing the stockWith a few small fish, sliced onions and carrots, a bay leaf, a glass of white wine and a glass of water, you will have prepared a small stock.
- Preparing the sauceMelt a piece of butter the size of a walnut in a saucepan, add a spoonful of flour, add liquid with the prepared stock; keep it a little thick; add the oyster liquor, bind with 2 egg yolks, reduce 2 minutes.
- FinishingPut a tablespoon of it on each oyster, sprinkle with a pinch of breadcrumbs, drizzle with a few drops of melted butter and brown au gratin in a very hot oven.
Reboul's text
Open your oysters, then lay them, still on the shell they are attached to, on an ovenproof dish, without spilling the liquor; put them in the oven just long enough to poach; 2 minutes are enough.
With a few small fish, sliced onions and carrots, a bay leaf, a glass of white wine and a glass of water, you will have prepared a small stock. Melt a piece of butter the size of a walnut in a saucepan, add a spoonful of flour, add liquid with the prepared stock; keep it a little thick; add the oyster liquor, bind with 2 egg yolks, reduce 2 minutes and put a tablespoon of it on each oyster, sprinkle with a pinch of breadcrumbs, drizzle with a few drops of melted butter and brown au gratin in a very hot oven.
Failing oysters, large mussels can be prepared the same way.
Small Provençal glossary for this recipe
Reboul writes in French: no Provençal word appears in this recipe, apart from the dish's name itself. The table below gives the Provençal equivalents of the words used, in mistralian spelling, translated by Lingua Nostra. Each form is attested in our Provençal-English dictionary; click to open the entry.
| Provençal | English |
|---|---|
| ùstri | oysters |
| enlugra | to poach |
| founs | stock |
| burre | butter |
| farino | flour |
| rabina | to brown au gratin |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 140, page 74. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.