Culinary Explorer
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Anges à Cheval
Created by Chef Juliette
Plump oysters wrapped in paper-thin bacon, grilled on skewers until bronze at the edges, then set on crisp toast beneath breadcrumbs and cayenne. The whole art is pulling them at once.
Anges à cheval (angels on horseback) teach one hard and useful lesson: the bacon and oyster must finish together. The oyster wants barely enough heat to turn plump and opaque; the bacon must be thin enough to crisp in that same brief window. Thick bacon is not generosity here. It is bad timing.
The old entry assumed a fierce salamander, long metal skewers, and a cook tending repeat batches through service. A home broiler, a wire rack, and four short metal skewers give the same hard, direct heat. Because the entry gives no count, this version fixes the platter at twelve oysters for four guests. Repeat batches are brigade scaffolding and go, while wrapping, skewering, grilling, toast, breadcrumbs, and cayenne are the dish and stay. There is no saucier's work and no stockpot to reproduce. A sauce would bury the point. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Dry the oysters thoroughly before you wrap them. Liquor left clinging to their surfaces prevents the bacon from crisping. Watch the bacon rather than the clock, then pull the skewers the instant its edges bronze and turn crisp.
Ingredients
large freshly shucked oysters
Quantity
12 (about 8½ oz / 240 g drained)
drained and thoroughly patted dry
very thin streaky bacon
Quantity
12 slices (about 5¼ oz / 150 g)
pain de mie or firm white sandwich bread
Quantity
6 slices (about 5¼ oz / 150 g)
crusts removed and each slice cut in half
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large freshly shucked oystersdrained and thoroughly patted dry | 12 (about 8½ oz / 240 g drained) |
| very thin streaky bacon | 12 slices (about 5¼ oz / 150 g) |
| pain de mie or firm white sandwich breadcrusts removed and each slice cut in half | 6 slices (about 5¼ oz / 150 g) |
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