Oysters Kilpatrick

This seafood dish is extremely popular in Australia and is featured on many menus all year around. As they say “The world is your oyster” you either love or hate them or are perplexed by their derivation. There is an abundance of variations of this dish, nevertheless they all contain oysters, bacon and Worcestershire sauce. I would recommend using a hot grill or broiler to avoid overcooking the oysters. The recipe appeared in 1968 “The Margaret Fulton Cookbook”. The tangy spicy taste of Oysters Kilpatrick are an old favorite way of eating oysters and the myth tells us that it is of Irish origin. The bacon is finely chopped and sautéed until crisp in its own fat. Breadcrumbs are added and the mixture spooned over oysters in their shell and grilled. Oysters Kilpatrick is served with a sauce made by mixing double cream with some Worcestershire sauce. In Ireland, the best oysters come from Galway Bay and a popular way to serve them is in a steak and kidney pie.

It is hard to find the origin of Oysters Kilpatrick, however the legend tells us Paddy was a youthful and hard working Irishman dwelling in a coastal village in Ireland. Daily he would pole a heavy old punt out to sea then work a heavy iron grapple to bring up the sand oysters which he sold to the local ice works. He was a man of regular habits and always arrived home each day at a certain time. Sadly, Paddy did not realise the heavy grappling was taking a toll on a faulty heart. One day he failed to come home, so his wife contacted the Police to investigate. They rowed out and found Paddy dead in the punt beside him a huge grapple full of oysters he'd tried to hoist aboard. Next day headlines in the 'Irish Times Newspaper' said... 

"OYSTERS KILL PATRICK"

This is the popular way of making this dish

Oysters Kilpatrick

Ingredients

12 fresh opened Sydney rock oysters
100 grams diced bacon
1 lemon wedge
3 tbls tomato sauce
3 tbls Worcestershire sauce

Method

Place the Oysters on a bed of rock salt or an oven tray. Sprinkle bacon over the oysters .Blend Worcestershire and tomato sauce. Sprinkle a small amount of this sauce on the oysters. Place under the grill and cook for approx. 5 minutes until the bacon is cooked. Serve straight away with a lemon wedge and the remainder of the sauce.

Note: If you like grilled cheese on the Oysters, wait until the bacon is cooked before generously sprinkling grated cheese onto the oysters and grill for a further 3 minutes before serving.