Oyster crackers are small, salted crackers, typically rounds about in diameter, although a slightly smaller hexagonal variety is also common. The crackers are often served with oyster stew and

clam chowder Clam chowder is any of several chowder soups in American cuisine containing clams. In addition to clams, common ingredients include diced potatoes, salt pork, and onions. Other vegetables are not typically used. It is believed that clams were ...

and contain similar ingredients to saltine crackers.

In cuisine

Oyster crackers are popular in the northeastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, where they are served as an accompaniment to soup, and in the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

area, where they are frequently served with that city's distinctive chili. In New England, oyster crackers are served with oyster stew and chowders. Plain oyster crackers are sometimes seasoned with various spices or

pepper sauce Sauce poivrade, sometimes called sauce au poivre, is a peppery sauce in French cuisine. It is made of a cooked mirepoix thickened with flour and moistened with wine and a little vinegar, then heavily seasoned with black pepper. More traditional ...

and served as an

appetizer An hors d'oeuvre ( ; french: hors-d'œuvre ), appetiser or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the m ...

or snack. Oyster crackers have a taste similar to saltine crackers, but usually are less salty. In other areas of the United States, they are among the choices for crackers with soup and are often available in restaurants in single serving packages. Many different companies produce oyster crackers with different combinations of

shortening Shortening is any fat that is a solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry and other food products. Although butter is solid at room temperature and is frequently used in making pastry, the term ''shortening'' seldom refers to b ...

s and other ingredients, but retaining the same general shape and size.

Etymology

The origin of the term "oyster cracker" is unclear, but it may be that they were originally served with oyster stew or

or merely that they look like an oyster in its shell. Other names include "water cracker," "Philadelphia cracker," and "Trenton cracker".

Origins

The Westminster Cracker Company, currently of Rutland, Vermont, has been making oyster crackers since 1828. However, a counterclaim is that Adam Exton is credited with inventing the oyster cracker. Adam Exton, a baker in Trenton,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, immigrated to America from

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in 1842. In Trenton, Exton opened a cake and cracker bakery with his brother-in-law, Richard Aspden, in 1846. Although Aspden died the following year, Exton continued with the bakery (the "Exton Cracker Bakery" or "Adam Exton & Co."). He invented a machine that rolled and docked pastry and solved the sanitary problems of hand-rolling crackers. The history of the oyster cracker was related by Exton's nephew, also named Adam Exton, in the ''Trenton Evening Times'' newspaper on May 31, 1917: }

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oyster Cracker Crackers (food) Vermont cuisine 1828 introductions

In cuisine

Etymology

Origins

See also

References