Oyster Crackers on the Half Shell
Their history and how to really eat oyster crackers
Whether you prefer creamy or tomato-based chowder, the delightful oyster cracker offers a perfect crunch counterpoint.
Oyster Stews and Clam Chowders
In Fisherman’s Stew: A Savory Representation of Region, Culture, and Flavors, we followed the suggestion of As We Eat listener Robin Ove and dived into the exploration of seafood stews made famous by coastal communities around the world, including a dip into the famous clam chowders of the American Northeast - whether they hail from New England, Boston, or Manhattan.
From real life seafaring journals to semi-historical sea adventure novels, clam chowder gets lots of credit as an “All American” dish - whether done up a la New England, Boston, or Manhattan. But clam chowders really owe a gastronomy debt to oysters, which in turn gave rise to the most delightful oyster cracker.
But before we get to the cracker, let’s celebrate the refined oyster.
Whether eaten raw on the half shell, stewed with potatoes, or fried, oysters have been a North American foodway long before European colonists arrived on its eastern seaboard. Unlike in Europe, oysters were enjoyed by all classes and served broadly across the Northeast and even carted into the American Midwest.
The Union Oyster House opened in Boston in 1826 and features tableside oyster shucking; diners made their own sauces from condiment containers at the table. An "oyster craze" swept the United States, and oyster bars were prominent gathering places in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Louisville, New York City, and St. Louis.
In 1892, the Pittsburgh Dispatch estimated the annual consumption (in terms of individual oysters) in the United States as a whole at twelve billion oysters.
The Cracker with a Fishy History
The oyster-shaped cracker that we now most often associate with clam chowder has a disputed origin.
One version has it that the cracker was first produced by the Westminster Cracker Company (originally founded in Westminster, Massachusetts) starting in 1828. The company website contains some incredibly original recipes utilizing oyster crackers, for those who are simply tired of eating them with chowder.
The counterclaim is that New Jersey baker Adam Exton invented the oyster cracker after immigrating from Lancashire, England in 1842. His legacy is that he invented a machine that rolled and docked pastry and solved the sanitary problems of hand-rolling crackers.
How and why these crackers came to be eaten with oyster stew and clam chowder is not very clear, but perhaps a key lies in the eating of oyster crackers…
How to Eat an Oyster Cracker
While oyster crackers do add a satisfying element of crunch to chowder, I learned the best (some say right) way to eat oyster crackers at the least likely place imaginable - a Skyline Chili parlor in Dayton, Ohio. Cincinnati-style chili is truly unique dish (and a topic best served up another time) but while you wait for the staff to pour your chili over the spaghetti, a dish of oyster crackers and spicy vinegar-based hot sauce is served to whet your appetite.
To do these crackers justice, you are meant to top a cracker with a dot or two of hot sauce and pop it into your mouth - bonus points if you manage to poke a tiny hole in the cracker and fill it with hot sauce; bonus, bonus points if you have the dental dexterity to gently bite the oyster cracker into two halves that each receive their equal shares of hot sauce.
Now that I have been introduced to this ritual, I can see a whole new reason for oyster crackers to accompany seafood stews, chowders - they are the perfectly bland partner to some fiery pepper sauce and in turn the spicy foil to a creamy chowder. I also really like the crunch.
How do you like to eat oyster crackers?
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