I
have recently been on the trail of the first Shrimp Cocktail recipe (or, in
Australia, Prawn Cocktail.) The specific concept is American, for sure,
although it is really just a tweak of a well-established idea of serving
oysters or other seafood with a slightly sharp and spicy sauce. In the case of the
shrimp cocktail, that spicy sauce has a tomato base.
I
invite you to help me find the earliest recipe named Shrimp Cocktail. The best
I have managed so far is the following one, from the Milwaukee Sentinel of March 17, 1926:
Kraut
and Shrimp Cocktail.
1 ½ cups Frank’s Kraut
(uncooked) shredded.
1 cup Frank Kraut juice
1 can shrimp, shredded
[shredded? An error, surely?]
Small piece of green
pepper (chopped fine)
Small piece of onion,
chopped very fine.
Method: Combine
ingredients and pour over kraut juice. Let stand for some time. One-half hour
before serving, put in glasses and cover with the following sauce:
One-half cup chili
sauce. Two tablespoons catsup, juice of half a lemon. Salt to taste with a dash
of paprika. Serve with salt wafers. This recipe is for six portions.
Here
is another recipe for a cocktail sauce for oysters which would work just as
well for shrimp (or, in Australia, for prawns) from The Meriden Daily Journal, Apr 9, 1936:
Cocktail Sauce.
Two tablespoons tomato
catsup, I tablespoon prepared horseradish, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon
lemon juice, half teaspoon minced onion, half teaspoon salt, few drops tabasco
sauce.
Mix oysters with sauce
in glasses before wanted for serving and keep on ice to chill thoroughly. Use
about one tablespoonful of the mixture for each serving.
3 comments:
This sounds more like a dip than a shrimp cocktail.
Sandra
I think it sounds pretty awful, Sandra!
1000 Ways to Please a Husband, that came out in... I think... 1907? 1906? has a recipe for a shrimp cocktail. IIRC, either the whole shebang, or just the sauce is served in half a lemon.
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