BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve

Subject: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Alice
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 07:39 PM

In our family, it was always a tradition to have oyster stew as the meal for Christmas Eve.
Other Flynn relatives tell me they always did, too. I assumed my grandfather brought this tradition from Ireland. Anyone know if that is the country of origin of oyster stew being a traditional Christmas Eve meal?

Alice Flynn

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Deckman
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 07:46 PM

I can't answer your question, but right now, even as I speak, "Bride Judy" is making clam chowder. That's HER family tradition from the west coast of America. Merry xmas. Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: katlaughing
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 08:31 PM

I thought about posting a thread with the same question, Alice. It was a tradition in our family to have oyster stew, too. I suspect it came from my mom's side, probably her father. He was English/Scottish, from Pennsylvania to Colorado.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Alice
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 08:49 PM

My grandfather settled in Pennsylvania after coming to the US, first to Minnesota. My dad was born in Pennsylvania.... hmmmmmm......!
Alice

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Sorcha
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 09:18 PM

My dad called himself Black Irish, and he wanted oyster stew then. Sometimes he got it, but he always got oysters in his stuffing/dressing on Christmas Day.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 09:26 PM

Christmas Eve is a fast day - so I'd think Oysters stew might be quite appropriate.

No, I'm sure it tastes great really.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: artbrooks
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 11:09 PM

Clam chowder for us.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Deckman
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 11:21 PM

Many, many years ago, my local, and favorite, grocer and I "invented" a recipe for oyster stew. It turned out simply wonderful, and for years, many of the locals enjoyed making it. This recipe has never been printed, as far as a I know. But then, I don't know very far! So, for the adventursome, here you are:

1 can Campbells creme of potato soup;
1 can Campbells creme of celery soup;
a couple of jars (8oz?) of raw, fresh oysters, the smaller the better;

Dump it all together and simmer for a half hour.
Enjoy ... Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: number 6
Date: 24 Dec 06 - 11:41 PM

We had our traditional Christmas eve supper tonight ... lobster and steamed mussels.

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: MMario
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 10:00 AM

Oyset stew on christmas eve was a tradition in the in-laws family - german derivation there, so it may have been quite widespread.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: catspaw49
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 10:04 AM

We always get together with Wayne and Connie on the Eve and have our Oyster Stew. It was a traditon in three out of our four parents' families. The three with the tradition are all German to some degree.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Alice
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 11:02 AM

A google search shows many people also asking this question about the tradition... where is the origin?

A 2004 article in the Cincinnati Post Click here
... It's said to have been started by Irish immigrants who had fled here during the potato famine in the mid-1800s. The immigrants had been accustomed to a Christmas Eve stew containing ling fish, which wasn't available here. John Gleeson, coordinator of the Irish Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, was quoted in a 2001 article in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as explaining that the Irish substituted oysters, the closest facsimile in taste.

...Probably because oyster stew is a warming dish, ideal for winter nights, the custom of serving it on Christmas Eve spread throughout the United States, beyond the Irish and Catholic communities.
Also from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is this information, contained in a 2002 article:
"According to Jerry Apps, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor emeritus and author of numerous books on Wisconsin history: 'By 1900, 50 different ethnic groups were here and each brought along its own costumes, recipes, approaches to the celebration. German celebrations always included, on Christmas Eve, oyster stew.'"
That tradition did not emanate from Germany, the waters there being too cold for oysters to dwell in them.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Alice
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 11:09 AM

Found more here A Christmas Eve Mystery

Americans, in general, were "oyster mad" in the 1800s, according to Mariani. Oysters were plentiful and were a big part of urban life, especially in East Coast cities where hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants settled. Part of the appeal to Irish immigrants, Gleeson said, may have been that common folk in Ireland couldn't get oysters. But everyone in America could enjoy them.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 11:22 AM

Every Christmas Eve while I was growing up. We'd get fresh oysters (in West Central Illinois, on the banks of the Mississipp) and my mother would make oyster stew. As did her mother and grandmother before her.

My family was of German extraction on both sides, and has been as far back as I can trace it.

As a child you don't question A Tradition!

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Alice
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 11:35 AM

From all I can find on the 'net, it was the Irish immigrants to the US in the 1800's who substituted oysters in their milk/fish soup for Christmas Eve and the "tradition" spread to other American families.

Alice

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: katlaughing
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 12:20 PM

We don't have a drop of German in us, but of course my grandfather may have learned it from Germans who settled in PA. My dad, with ancestry in MA, VA, and Nova Scotia, would not eat it. In fact, I don't remember him ever eating any fish. Since we were always in the Rocky Mtns, landlocked, we always had it made with canned oysters. I don't think I could eat it made with fresh. (That's a landlubber for ya!:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 12:29 PM

I come from a strong German background -- my father's family is Schulz and my mother's Koch and we lived in Milwaukee, a US bastion of Teutonic culture -- and have a strong sense of association of oysters with Christmas although we didn't have oyster stew on Christmas Eve.

I think, perhaps, that the reason we had no family history of it was because of my mother's bad episode with a bad oyster circa 1955 or '56. We never had oyster stew again. (Although my parents indulged my taste for smoked oysters.)

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: GUEST,Frogprince, in Minnesota
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 02:23 PM

No idea about the origins of it, but my middle nephew has made a huge pot of superb oyster stew for Christmas eve for years; we consumed an outrageous amount of the latest batch last night.
                   Dean

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Bert
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 02:36 PM

We don't have a formal meal because everyone is busy frosting cookies and gingerbread.

But we always have a meat and cheese platter and "Totino's" Pizza. For those who don't get Totino's Pizza in your area, it is a very cheap pizza, they cost about a dollar each. We keep loads of them in the freezer for 'emergencies' and we augment them with toppings of anything available.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Alice
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 02:43 PM

Linn, or it could be the reason your family has no tradition of it is that the tradition isn't German. All points to Irish-American immigrants.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 02:50 PM

If it is an Irish tradition I have never heard of it. Sounds more likely to be from elsewhere.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Alice
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 02:56 PM

NOT an Irish tradition, rather an Irish AMERICAN tradition. Please read articles linked.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 03:09 PM

I'm from Rochester, Minnesota, and German up to here, on both sides. In my young life (1930-1952) Christmas Eve (I won't say "always") usually meant oyster stew for us.

One exception: One of my aunts, who'd married a non-German, succeeded in organizing a lutefisk Christmas Eve one year.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 04:20 PM

Lutefisk? Organized? You cannot organize lutefisk, you can only destroy it.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 04:29 PM

My uncle used to suggest that lutefisk be left on the doorstep for the cats to "marinate" it.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 04:33 PM

I won't go into how lutefisk is made, but I'll tell those who don't already know that lutefisk may be served warm, or cold.

Served cold, it tastes like cold wallpaper paste.

Served hot, on the other hand, it tastes like hot wallpaper paste!

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 05:17 PM

I assumed my grandfather brought this tradition from Ireland. Anyone know if that is the country of origin of oyster stew being a traditional Christmas Eve meal?

Ah my mistake Alice. For a moment there I thought you were asking if the tradition came from Ireland.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Alice
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 07:07 PM

Yes, Guest, I started the thread with that question, but later posted info from articles that said Irish Americans started it after arriving here.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 07:20 PM

Sorry I dozed off.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Amergin
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 08:09 PM

My Gramma aways made clam chowder and oyster stew every year....didn't know other families did it too....

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 09:03 PM

I have a folklorist friend who's working on the topic... as mentioned in the above-cited article, apparently "oyster suppers" were huge in the 19th century, with Chesapeake Bay oysters being shipped all over the country. Those of you still eating 'em are indulging in a true folk tradition -- passed down through a few generations, now.

:-)

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: katlaughing
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 09:28 PM

Here's a recipe for it from 1894:

From:
Recipes Tried and True
Compiled by the Ladies' Aid Society of the First Presbyterian Church, Marion, Ohio, 1894

OYSTER STEW. MRS. J. ED. THOMAS.

Wash one quart oysters and place on the fire. When they boil, add one quart of boiling milk, and season with salt, pepper, and plenty of butter. Serve with crackers or toast.

Maybe it all started with the Feast of the Seven Fishes from Italy?:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 25 Dec 06 - 09:29 PM

No oyster stew, but a big Ulster fry.

Seamus

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: EBarnacle
Date: 26 Dec 06 - 08:47 AM

It would make an interesting test of the hypothesis that oysters help potency. If there is a peak of births about Sept 25, it would be indicative.

Subject: RE: BS: Oyster Stew On Christmas Eve
From: number 6
Date: 26 Dec 06 - 09:03 AM

I'd say it's a direct result of the amount of booze consumed at this tiem of year.

biLL