Pickled Oysters
Pickled oysters are a Victorian way of keeping a perishable shellfish, adapted here from the 1881 Household Cyclopedia. The oysters are simmered briefly in salted vinegar, then covered with a liquid boiled with peppercorns, mace and cloves. Mace and cloves give the brine a warm, old-fashioned spice that suits the oysters' mineral sweetness. The method is short and uses only pantry spices, so the main cost is the oysters themselves.
Instructions
Drain the liquor from the oysters and rinse them well.
Put the oysters in a pot with the salt and vinegar and simmer them for about 10 minutes. Discard any scum that rises to the surface as they cook.
Lift the oysters out with a slotted spoon, leaving the liquid in the pot, and pack them into a jar.
Add the peppercorns, mace and cloves to the liquid in the pot and boil it for 5 minutes.
Skim the surface of the spiced liquid, then pour it over the oysters in the jar so they are covered.
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