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Oysters à la reine Margot

A cold party starter from Erken's Stor kokebok 1914: opened oysters and celery in French dressing arranged in a homemade ice mold lined with lettuce leaves, and served with a cooked lemon-mustard sauce enriched with egg yolk, or with mayonnaise.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 443 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

An elegant, French-inspired cold starter from Erken's chapter on salads, omelets and side dishes. Oysters were served in a homemade ice mold — a common festive presentation in middle-class Norwegian homes around 1914, before the age of the refrigerator.

How to make it

  1. 1

    Make the ice mold

    Set a smaller mold down inside a larger, round mold and place something heavy in the small mold so it stays in place. Fill the large mold with water to about 2 cm height and set it to freeze.

  2. 2

    Release the inner mold

    When the water has frozen, fill the smaller mold with warm water and lift it out, so that an opening is left in the ice.

  3. 3

    Cook the sauce

    Put everything for the sauce except the egg yolk in a pot and stir until it boils. Take the pot off the heat.

  4. 4

    Finish the sauce

    Cool the sauce and stir in the egg yolk. Season with oil and more spices as desired.

  5. 5

    Arrange

    Line the opening in the ice mold with green lettuce leaves. Mix the opened, cold oysters and the celery with French salad dressing and fill it into the opening.

  6. 6

    Serve

    Serve at once with the cooled sauce, or with real mayonnaise — yellow, green or red.

Changes from the original

Measurements have been converted to modern units (deciliters, grams, teaspoon). The quantity of oysters and celery is not given in the original and has been estimated. "French salad sauce" has been specified as an oil-and-vinegar dressing. The method has been divided into numbered steps.

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Frequently asked questions

What exactly is the "ice mold" in this dish?
You freeze a layer of water about 2 cm thick in a round mold by setting a smaller mold (weighted down) inside the large one. When the water has frozen, the small mold is filled with warm water and lifted out, leaving an ice bowl with a hollow. The opening is lined with lettuce leaves, and the cold, opened oysters and celery moistened with French salad sauce are placed in it. That is why the total time is long – the freezing takes time.
How is the sauce that accompanies it made?
Melt/stir together 40 g butter, 40 g wheat flour, 3 dl water, ½ dl lemon juice, 1 tsp mustard and a pinch of salt in a pot. Stir until it boils, take it off the heat, cool and then stir in the egg yolk. Alternatively, the dish can be served with real mayonnaise – yellow, green or red.
Where does the recipe come from?
From Henriette Schønberg Erken's "Stor kokebok" (1914), page 443, in the chapter on salads, omelets and side dishes. It counts as a starter and serves 4.

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