Origins of Deviled Oysters

Does anyone know anything about the origins of deviled oysters? Did the dish originate in the South?

This seems to be the oldest recipe I can find online: http://www.yankeemagazine.com/recipes/s ... mber=18220

I can't offer any authoritative opinion on the origins of the dish, but a recipe for Broiled Devilled Oysters appears on page 800 in The International Cookbook (1906) by Alexander Filippini "Formerly of Delmonicos". The recipe for Devilled Butter appears on page 6 of the same book. Here is a link to the Devilled Oyster recipe:

http://chestofbooks.com/food/recipes/International/Monday-Second-Week-Of-October-Menu.html

My guess is that this sort of recipe dates from the late nineteenth century. The Food Timeline website has this to say about a similar oyster dish, using "angels" rather than devils:

http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodlobster.html#angels

Nice. Haven't seen a saltspoon used as a measurement forever.

Hurdler4eva wrote:Does anyone know anything about the origins of deviled oysters?

According to Alan Davidson in the Oxford Companion to Food, the culinary term "devil" first appeared as a noun in the 18th century and as a verb in the early 19th century (this from the Oxford English Dictionary).

I didn't look very hard at all but the earliest mention of deviled oysters I found is from 1887 in the New York Tribune. The way it's mentioned in passing, without any explanation, suggests the dish was already common by then.

Josephine wrote:The Food Timeline website has this to say about a similar oyster dish, using "angels" rather than devils:

http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodlobster.html#angels

I see from this link that "angels on horseback" (and sometimes "devils on horseback") refers (or referred) to oysters wrapped in bacon. These days "devils on horseback" usually describes bacon-wrapped dates or prunes. Oddly, I had my first encounter with devils on horseback only hours after reading Josephine's post. Pleasant House Bakery offered them today as a special.





Very tasty!

Yum! Those look delicious. Thanks to Rene G and Josephine for poking around and digging up some info. I guess I was expecting some fun story behind the dish, but I guess it's a little more nebulous.

Rene G wrote:These days "devils on horseback" usually describes bacon-wrapped dates or prunes. Oddly, I had my first encounter with devils on horseback only hours after reading Josephine's post. Pleasant House Bakery offered them today as a special.





Very tasty!

Funny coincidence indeed. The link to the Food Timeline that I posted above actually names the prune variation and links here to this recipe for the dish. Looks like the recommended garnish in that recipe is watercress. Not far off from the nasturtium and micro-green garnish offered at Pleasant House Bakery, in texture or in taste, for that matter, given the peppery quality of the nasturtium.

Jazzfood wrote:Nice. Haven't seen a saltspoon used as a measurement forever.

Well, Alan, if saltspoons get you going, you would find lots to love in Filippini's book. Consider doing as I did for a time, using the book daily as a kind of foodie spiritual-meditative practice. The recipes are set out by days of the year, and so I would read the menus and recipes for each day, and mentally consider the meals proposed. I can report that the practice was quite soothing and uplifting.

Here is a Thanksgiving Menu to get you started. Beware, in the world of Filippini, every day is a feast.

I am down in Tidewater, Virginia, where I just had a wonderful lunch of deviled crab from a crab/seafood joint that's been around for decades. The spicy crab mixture was merely claw crabmeat, melted butter, seafood seasoning (don't think it was Old Bay but something similar), perhaps Worcestershire, and some type of hot sauce/pepper.

The crab is mixed and then stuffed back into aluminun crab "shells" before reheating for service. Served with saltine crackers, plastic forks and packets of Texas Pete. A fine lunch that really took me back.

Back in the day, deviled crab was a familiar restaurant menu item in the Del/Mar/Va area, common to most seafood restaurants in the region, along with the usual fried and broiled selections.

It was really a treat.