Chesapeake Oyster Loaf

"Oyster loaves" have been served for many decades, though the oysters were not fried, at least in the earlier days; the bread was hollowed out, rather than split; and butter was commonly used, rather than lettuce or tomato. La Médiatrice, or "the peacemaker", was the name given the oyster loaf in New Orleans in the 1800s: "Men out late carousing in the French Quarter brought home the golden toasted loaf, hollowed out and stuffed with hot creamed oysters or perhaps buttery fried oysters, as a peace offering to their jealous wives. The loaves were sold all over the Quarter for pennies. In 19th-century oyster-crazed America, the loaf was known elsewhere too. The original Joy of Cooking (1931) includes a recipe, although by then the loaf had metamorphosed into Creamed Oysters in Bread Cases, which sounds better suited to a ladies' lunch than to making marital amends." From the Southern chapter of the United States Regional Cookbook, Culinary Arts Institute of Chicago, 1947.

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1  loaf  bread, unsliced
•  butter
• 2  dozen  oysters
• 1⁄2 cup  cream
• 1  tablespoon celery, minced
•  salt and pepper, to taste
• 1  drop Tabasco sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cut top crust of bread off and scoop out inside.
3. Butter 1/3 of the scooped out bread and toast in the oven.
4. Fry oysters in butter; add cream, celery, pepper, salt, Tabasco and toasted bread.
5. Fill the hollowed loaf with this mixture, cover with top crust and bake for 20 minutes, basting often with oyster liquor.
6. Slice and serve hot.