Is Oyster Stew Stew?

My southern father loved Oyster Stew. We made gallons of it every Christmas Eve for the more than 150 people who used to come to our house for our family Christmas party. The Connecticut Yankees ate it up, exclaiming they had never had such a thing. I used to wonder if it was a purely southern thing. More than that I wondered why it was called stew at all. Our family recipe included only onions, butter, milk, half and half, spices and oysters. Of course it was served with oyster crackers. It was much more a soup than a stew, but who was I, a mere child/indentured cooked to question.

Along with the oyster stew we served Ham biscuits made with real country ham my father would order from Virginia, like the kind his Charlottesville mother would have used. We had to soak that ham in a sink full of water for days to remove enough of the salt so the Yankees could eat it.

Of course we had standard 1970’s party food, such as onion dip and hot artichoke dip, but it was the southern foods which were devoured first.

This week on my way home from Kinston I stop at the fish market and bought a half pint of oysters and made oyster stew. The simplest of dishes and the best. I felt my Dad’s presence even if it wasn’t Christmas Eve. I still don’t get why it’s called a stew.

Demand for the recipe

2 T. Butter

1 sweet onion chopped

1 clove Garlic

Shake of cayenne pepper

1 t. Paprika

1 t. Parsley flakes

Black pepper

Salt to taste

2 cups milk

1 cup half and half

1 pint of shucked oysters in their liquor

Melt butter in sauce pan. Add the onions on medium heat and cook five minutes until translucent. Add garlic and spices and cook one more minute. Add milk and half and half and the liquor from the oysters. Heat gently until small bubbles appear around the edge of the pot.

Add the oysters and continue cooking for a few minutes until the edges of the oysters curl.

Taste for salt and pepper.

Serve with oyster crackers.