• Oysters, highly seasoned, baked on a bed of spinach.
• 3 dozen oysters, opened on the half-shell at the fish market
• 1 package cooked frozen chopped spinach
• 2 cups white sauce, made from condensed cream soup (celery)
• 3 T sherry
• 1 egg
• 2 T butter
• 1 T each minced onion and parsley
• ½ tsp Worcestershire Sause
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp Monosodium Glutamate (Accent Powder)
• 6 drops Tabasco
• a dash of nutmeg, and of Nepal pepper

Heat the oven to 375.

Bed oysters in their shells upright in crumpled aluminum foil in a baking pan.
Sprinkle lightly with sherry.

Cook spinach till slightly underdone, and drain thoroughly.

Meanwhile, combine condensed soup with ½ cup milk and heat gently. Add a beaten egg, blend thoroughly and place over hot water.

In a separate skillet, melt the butter and saute onion for 3 minutes. Add drained spinach and ¼ cup of the soup, plus all seasonings, and blend. Saute for 3 minutes, distribute over the waiting oysters. Top with the rest of “the soup-sauce, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and bake for 15 min­utes until light brown.

• 1 pound cooked shrimp
• 3 cups water
• 3 tablespoons bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 egg yolk
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon fresh minced chives
• 2 teaspoons fresh minced parsley
• ½ cup cucumber
• salt and pepper

Reserve 8 shrimp for garnishing; grind the remainder or pound in a mortar. Combine ground shrimps with water, wine, bread crumbs, lemon rind, and generous pinch of ground nutmeg in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and cook for 7 min­utes, stirring constantly. Strain through a fine sieve and re­turn to low heat.

Beat together the egg yolk and cream and add, stirring gently. Heat until shrimp soup thickens slightly but do not allow to boil. Finally, remove from fire; cool, add the chives, parsley and peeled diced cucumber. Chill overnight in the refrigerator, and serve with a garnish of the remaining shrimps, coarse-chopped, plus a large tablespoon of sour cream or yogurt.

A typical Scandinavian soup.

• 1 medium-sized tin each: prunes, apricots, pears
• 3 tart apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 T cornstarch, mixed to a paste with a little cold water

Combine fruits (with their juices), apple and cinnamon, and add 1 cup water. Simmer very gently until the fruit is extremely mushy (about 10 minutes). Force through a sieve into a saucepan, add the cornstarch mixed with water, bring to a boil and stir smoothly, cooking for 2 minutes. Cool over­night before serving.

NOTE: Almost any fruit can be used for the cold Scandina­vian fruit soups: cherries, strawberries, raspberries—even peaches or nectarines . . . but the basic theory is always the same: Reduce the fruit to a mush with enough water to aid in extracting the natural juice; sweeten to taste (if you are using fresh fruit); spice with a cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg; thicken with cornstarch and water. Chill overnight, and serve with a few bits of fresh fruit.

A Levantine version of Gazpacho, substituting eggplant for the cucumbers.

• 2 green peppers, skinned and seeded
• 2 small eggplants, skinned and seeded
• 6 T olive oil
• 3 cups yogurt
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed
• a pinch each of Cayenne and powdered mint

Cooked minced peppers and eggplants in oil very gently for about 15 minutes; do not brown. When soft, mash finely, and mix with all other ingredients. Chill overnight and serve ice-cold.

• 2 peeled seeded cucumbers, finely cubed
• 2 cloves pressed garlic
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp salt

Mix garlic, cucumbers and olive oil. Let stand.

Bring water to a boil, add salt, and cornstarch mixed to a smooth paste with 3 tablespoons of cold water. Stir until thick and smooth.

Pour cornstarch mixture over cucumbers. Cool, and slowly add the cream, stirring constantly. Chill overnight and serve ice-cold.