OP: New Ways for Oysters
George H. Buchanan Company, 1903. Hardcover, recased. Fair.
One of the major figures of cooking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Sarah Tyson Rorer (1849–1937) was instrumental in the development of domestic science in America. She established the Philadelphia Cooking School in the early 1880s and drew large audiences around the country for her lectures and classes, including cooking demonstrations at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. She also served for many years as food editor at Ladies’ Home Journal, later occupying a similar post at Good Housekeeping.
Above all, however, she was a prolific producer of cookbooks, many of them dealing with single subjects such as oysters or chafing dish cookery.
New Ways for Oysters is a 1903 expansion on an earlier, smaller one, Fifteen New Ways for Oysters (1894). Reusing some of the recipes in the original book, but increasing the total to 41, her additions include Philadelphia broiled oysters, oysters à la Dumas (served with a typical cocktail sauce calling for “tobasco”), and casserolettes (made with rice, milk, butter, and oysters).
Our copy of this scarce pocket-sized book, approximately 3” x 5”, is a cheap copy, readable but in disrepair. The book block, while free of writing or staining, shows extensive repairs and had become totally disbound. We’ve had it recased to give it a little more life. Not often seen, we’re happy to offer a copy in any condition.
