Another Recipe: Papa's Oyster Stew

A Holiday Favorite

Hello! If you are just picking up the Grape to Table newsletter, thanks so much for joining to learn more about wine, food, and life. We have just wrapped up my origin story (click here to read), and we are diving into fun content focused on meaningful time at the table with delicious wine and food. 

While it’s Thanksgiving week and so many are focusing their newsletters on turkey day, I thought I would gift you my father’s oyster stew recipe that I love to make on Thanksgiving Eve (and really any other fall/winter evening). But it’s especially nice to have an easy one pot meal on the night before the BIG meal. 

So yes, this simple but addictive oyster stew is an homage to my father (Papa) who passed away in 2001. I grew up eating this stew during the winter, and I specifically remember it during the holidays — right about the time we would pick up the Christmas tree. Papa would buy shucked oysters from our local oyster bar, Rosehill Seafood, and he would pull out a beat up, metal pot that seems gargantuan in my memory. There was a celebratory feeling every time. 

In reality, I think his recipe came by way of that oyster bar. Rosehill Seafood is an institution in Columbus, Georgia (my hometown). The very fact that landlocked Columbus, Georgia has an oyster bar is a miracle, and it was a special gift to me as I developed a love for all oysters – raw and cooked – at an early age! Rosehill’s owners (the Lunsfords) became friends of my father (who truthfully never met a stranger). And thus he ended up with some version of their oyster stew recipe.

It is also a miracle that I just happened to ask Papa for a copy before his death. This was just about the time I became totally obsessed with food and cooking. I was working at Emeril’s Delmonico in New Orleans and also writing for Emeril’s website where we published all sorts of food related articles. Writing about Papa’s Oyster Stew prompted me to ask for the recipe and put it on paper. Before this I am not sure any sort of recipe was written down!

At the time, I was in my early twenties and my parents’ immortality still seemed vaguely possible. So when my father suddenly died of a heart attack I was devastated. Honestly, I did not even feel up to making this stew until a year later. It just so happens that my father’s birthday falls on December 1^st, and cooking oyster stew has turned into a fine way to remember him and times in the kitchen with that beat up, metal pot.

Pairing the oyster stew with wine is a more recent part of the celebration. Ultimately, I think that a mineral driven white that is reminiscent of oysters works beautifully. I love Chardonnay from its homeland in Burgundy, France – specifically, Chablis! This wine has the acidity to cut through the richness of the stew but also the body to compliment, and it also has that backbone of minerality that is the perfect complement to the oysters. 

Papa’s Oyster Stew

1 quart shucked oysters and their liquor

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large onion)

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 ½ cups milk

1 cup heavy cream

Additional, Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Oyster crackers for garnish

Drain the oysters and reserve the liquor. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the foam subsides add the onions, salt, and pepper and cook until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add oyster liquor and cook until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add the milk and cream and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and add oysters. Cook until their outer edges begin to curl, about 5 minutes. Season with additional salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Serve with oyster crackers.

Yield: 4 entree servings

P.S. This is one of those simple but delicious recipes. Over the years I have fancied it up a bit by adding the step to reduce the oyster liquor, but essentially it is the same recipe I enjoyed as a child! On that note, the most important part of this dish (besides fresh, delicious oysters) is to serve it with plenty of good ol’ oyster crackers!  

P.P.S. For a musical pairing…I’ve already mentioned my father’s love of The Big Chill soundtrack – you could certainly queue that up again or any Motown! If you are saving this recipe for Christmas time, my father also loved the Bing Crosby Christmas album.

One of My Fave Chablis Producers: Tribut