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{{Short description|Type of oyster dish}}
{{Infobox prepared food
{{Infobox prepared food
| name = Oysters Rockefeller
| name = Oysters Rockefeller
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| region = [[New Orleans]]
| region = [[New Orleans]]
| creator =
| creator =
| course = [[Hors d'oeuvre]], [[Entrée]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Creole Gumbo and All That Jazz: A New Orleans Seafood Cookbook|author=Howard Mitcham|page=46|isbn=0882898701|year=1992|publisher=Pelican Publishing}}</ref>
| course = [[Hors d'oeuvre]], [[entrée]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Creole Gumbo and All That Jazz: A New Orleans Seafood Cookbook|author=Howard Mitcham|page=46|isbn=0-88289-870-1|year=1992|publisher=Pelican Publishing}}</ref>
| type =
| type =
| served =
| served =
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}}
}}


'''Oysters Rockefeller''' consists of [[oyster]]s on the half-shell that have been topped with a rich sauce of [[butter]], [[parsley]] and other green herbs, and bread crumbs, then [[baking|baked]] or [[broil]]ed. Lemon wedges are the typical garnish.
'''Oysters Rockefeller''' is a dish consisting of [[oyster]]s on the half-shell that have been topped with a rich sauce of butter, parsley and other green herbs, and bread crumbs, and then baked or broiled. Lemon wedges are the typical garnish. Many contemporary adaptations use diced oysters instead of whole. Also, diced bacon often appears as a non-traditional topping in addition to or in place of the sauce.


Oysters Rockefeller was created in 1889 in [[New Orleans]]. It is a popular restaurant appetizer throughout the [[United States]] and is served as a brunch item in the [[Southern United States|South]].<ref name="Ternikar 2014 p. 3">{{cite book | last=Ternikar | first=F. | title=Brunch: A History | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers | series=The Meals Series | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-4422-2943-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BukLBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 | page=3}}</ref>
The original sauce may or may not include [[spinach]], a popular shortcut for achieving the dish's signature bright green color. Many contemporary adaptations use diced oysters instead of whole. Also, diced bacon often appears as a non-traditional topping, in addition to or in place of the sauce.

The dish appears a popular restaurant [[appetizer]] throughout the United States, and is served as a [[brunch]] item in the [[Southern United States|South]].<ref name="Ternikar 2014 p. 3">{{cite book | last=Ternikar | first=F. | title=Brunch: A History | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers | series=The Meals Series | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-4422-2943-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BukLBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 | page=3}}</ref>


==History==
==History==
Oysters Rockefeller was created in 1899 at the [[New Orleans]] restaurant [[Antoine's]] by Jules Alciatore, son of founder Antoine Alciatore.<ref name="guste">{{cite book |title=Antoine's Restaurant Cookbook, Since 1840 |last=Guste |first=Roy F., Jr. |location=New York |publisher=W. W. Norton & Co |year=1980 |page=32 |ISBN=0-393-02666-3 |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393026663/sr=1-1#reader_0393026663 |accessdate=13 June 2011}}</ref> Jules developed the dish due to a shortage of [[escargot]], substituting the locally available [[oyster]]s. The recipe remains unchanged, with an estimated three and a half million orders having been served.<ref name="guste"/>
Oysters Rockefeller was created in 1889 at the [[New Orleans]] restaurant [[Antoine's]] by Jules Alciatore, son of founder Antoine Alciatore.<ref name="guste">{{cite book |title=Antoine's Restaurant Cookbook, Since 1840 |last=Guste |first=Roy F. Jr. |location=New York |publisher=W. W. Norton & Co |year=1980 |page=32 |isbn=0-393-02666-3 }}</ref> Jules developed the dish due to a shortage of [[escargot]], substituting the locally available oysters. The restaurant's recipe remains unchanged, with an estimated three and a half million orders having been served by 1980.<ref name="guste"/>

[[File:FDRooseveltLecheMaistreAntoinesWPA.jpeg|right|thumb|President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] had Oysters Rockefeller at Antoine's in 1937. Mayor [[Robert Maestri]] commented to Roosevelt "How you like dem erstas?", as the national press transcribed Maestri's [[Yat dialect|Yat accent]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pontchartrain.net/templates/System/details.asp?id=40334&PID=495604 |title=1937 - FDR in New Orleans |last1= Campanella |first1=Catherine |publisher=New Orleans History -- Lake Pontchartrain |accessdate=13 June 2011}}</ref>]]
The dish was named Oysters Rockefeller after [[John D. Rockefeller]], the then wealthiest American, for its extreme richness.<ref name="guste"/> It consists of oysters on the half-shell topped with a green sauce and [[bread crumbs]], then [[Baking|baked]] or [[broiled]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}
Though the original sauce recipe is a secret, it includes a purée of a number of green vegetables that may or may not include spinach.<ref name="guste"/> Similar versions of the dish have proliferated in New Orleans, with none acclaimed as an accurate duplicate.


[[File:FDRooseveltLecheMaistreAntoinesWPA.jpeg|right|thumb|President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] had oysters Rockefeller at Antoine's in 1937. Mayor [[Robert Maestri]] commented to Roosevelt "How you like dem erstas?", as the national press transcribed Maestri's [[Yat dialect|Yat accent]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pontchartrain.net/templates/System/details.asp?id=40334&PID=495604 |title=1937 - FDR in New Orleans |last1= Campanella |first1=Catherine |publisher=New Orleans History -- Lake Pontchartrain |access-date=13 June 2011}}</ref>]]
chef [[Alton Brown]] states in the "Shell Game" episode of his [[Food Network]] series ''[[Good Eats]]'' that Alciatore took his recipe to the grave, and any version since is merely an assumption. While many achieve the sauce's trademark green color simply using spinach, Antoine's chefs have repeatedly denied the dish contains it. A 1986 laboratory analysis by [[William Poundstone]] in ''[[Big Secrets|Bigger Secrets]]'' indicated its primary ingredients were [[parsley]], pureed and strained [[celery]], [[scallion]]s or [[chive]]s (indistinguishable in a food lab), [[olive oil]], and [[caper]]s.
The dish was named "oysters Rockefeller" after [[John D. Rockefeller]], the then-wealthiest American, for its extreme richness.<ref name="guste"/> It consists of oysters on the half-shell topped with a green sauce and [[bread crumbs]], then baked or broiled.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oysters Rockefeller |url=https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/oysters-rockefeller-102178 |website=Epicurious |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=2 August 2022}}</ref>
Though the original sauce recipe is a secret, it includes a purée of a number of green vegetables that may include spinach.<ref name="guste"/> Similar versions of the dish have proliferated in New Orleans, with none noted as an accurate duplicate.


Chef [[Alton Brown]] states in the "Shell Game" episode of his [[Food Network]] series ''[[Good Eats]]'' that Alciatore took his recipe to the grave and any version since is merely an assumption. While many achieve the sauce's trademark green color simply using spinach, Antoine's chefs have repeatedly denied the dish contains it. A 1986 laboratory analysis by [[William Poundstone]] in ''[[Big Secrets|Bigger Secrets]]'' indicated its primary ingredients were [[parsley]], pureed and strained [[celery]], [[scallion]]s or [[chive]]s (indistinguishable in a food lab), [[olive oil]], and [[caper]]s.
''Pernod Fils absinthe'', a popular [[Victorian era]] inclusion which fell out production in 1915,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pernod.net/histoire/once/ow_once_bas.htm |title=Pernod : A Long Heritage: Key Dates |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602131044/http://www.pernod.net/histoire/once/ow_once_bas.htm |archivedate=2 June 2009 |publisher=[[Pernod]] |accessdate=12 June 2011}}</ref> is a possible original ingredient.{{cn|date=September 2017}} [[Malcolm Hébert]], native Louisianan, cookbook author and wine and food editor, decries spinach, and adds the [[anise]]-flavored liqueur [[Herbsaint]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gumbopages.com/food/app/erstas-rock.html |title=Oysters Rockefeller |first=Chuck |last=Taggart |publisher=The Gumbo Pages |accessdate=13 June 2011}}</ref> It is not possible that Herbsaint was in the original recipe, as Herbsaint debuted in 1934; nor Pernod Fils anise liqueur, which did not appear until after the First World War.


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
<gallery class="center" caption="" widths="220px" heights="160px">
<gallery class="center" caption="" widths="220px" heights="160px">
File:Oysters rockefeller.jpg|Oysters Rockefeller
File:Oysters rockefeller.jpg|Oysters Rockefeller
File:Virgina Beach-Catch31 Restaurant - Oysters Rockefeller.jpg|Oysters Rockefeller topped with bacon
File:Virginia Beach-Catch31 Restaurant - Oysters Rockefeller.jpg|Oysters Rockefeller topped with bacon
File:Oysters Rockefeller at a restaurant.jpg|Oysters Rockefeller heavily broiled
File:Oysters Rockefeller at a restaurant.jpg|Oysters Rockefeller heavily broiled
</gallery>
</gallery>
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{{Oysters}}
{{Oysters}}


[[Category:American cuisine]]
[[Category:Cuisine of New Orleans]]
[[Category:Cuisine of New Orleans]]
[[Category:Louisiana cuisine]]
[[Category:Oyster dishes]]
[[Category:Oyster dishes]]
[[Category:Baked goods]]
[[Category:Baked foods]]
[[Category:American seafood dishes]]

Latest revision as of 20:17, 12 September 2024

Oysters Rockefeller
CourseHors d'oeuvre, entrée[1]
Place of originUnited States
Region or stateNew Orleans
Main ingredientsOysters

Oysters Rockefeller is a dish consisting of oysters on the half-shell that have been topped with a rich sauce of butter, parsley and other green herbs, and bread crumbs, and then baked or broiled. Lemon wedges are the typical garnish. Many contemporary adaptations use diced oysters instead of whole. Also, diced bacon often appears as a non-traditional topping in addition to or in place of the sauce.

Oysters Rockefeller was created in 1889 in New Orleans. It is a popular restaurant appetizer throughout the United States and is served as a brunch item in the South.[2]

History

[edit]

Oysters Rockefeller was created in 1889 at the New Orleans restaurant Antoine's by Jules Alciatore, son of founder Antoine Alciatore.[3] Jules developed the dish due to a shortage of escargot, substituting the locally available oysters. The restaurant's recipe remains unchanged, with an estimated three and a half million orders having been served by 1980.[3]

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had oysters Rockefeller at Antoine's in 1937. Mayor Robert Maestri commented to Roosevelt "How you like dem erstas?", as the national press transcribed Maestri's Yat accent.[4]

The dish was named "oysters Rockefeller" after John D. Rockefeller, the then-wealthiest American, for its extreme richness.[3] It consists of oysters on the half-shell topped with a green sauce and bread crumbs, then baked or broiled.[5] Though the original sauce recipe is a secret, it includes a purée of a number of green vegetables that may include spinach.[3] Similar versions of the dish have proliferated in New Orleans, with none noted as an accurate duplicate.

Chef Alton Brown states in the "Shell Game" episode of his Food Network series Good Eats that Alciatore took his recipe to the grave and any version since is merely an assumption. While many achieve the sauce's trademark green color simply using spinach, Antoine's chefs have repeatedly denied the dish contains it. A 1986 laboratory analysis by William Poundstone in Bigger Secrets indicated its primary ingredients were parsley, pureed and strained celery, scallions or chives (indistinguishable in a food lab), olive oil, and capers.

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Howard Mitcham (1992). Creole Gumbo and All That Jazz: A New Orleans Seafood Cookbook. Pelican Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 0-88289-870-1.
  2. ^ Ternikar, F. (2014). Brunch: A History. The Meals Series. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-4422-2943-3.
  3. ^ a b c d Guste, Roy F. Jr. (1980). Antoine's Restaurant Cookbook, Since 1840. New York: W. W. Norton & Co. p. 32. ISBN 0-393-02666-3.
  4. ^ Campanella, Catherine. "1937 - FDR in New Orleans". New Orleans History -- Lake Pontchartrain. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  5. ^ "Oysters Rockefeller". Epicurious. Condé Nast. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
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