Oyster Soup with Lemon and Saffron

Broth and cooking the oysters

1. Check the shucked oysters and remove any shell fragments. Weigh 300 g of drained meat and keep it in the refrigerator while you prepare the broth.
2. Heat the liter of stock. Set aside about 60 ml in a cup, add the slightly crushed saffron threads and let infuse for 5 minutes. Return the infusion to the pot.

   

3. Bring the broth to a boil and incorporate the oysters. When it recovers the boil, count at least 3 full minutes of cooking. They should remain meaty and opaque; if they are especially large, prolong the cooking until they are cooked through inside.

   

4. Remove the oysters with a slotted spoon and reserve them in a clean container covered with a little of the broth. Remove the pot from the heat and let the broth drop to about 70–75 °C, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, toast the bread slices in a dry skillet.

Thickening and finishing

5. Beat the yolks in a bowl. Add a ladle of hot broth in a thin stream, beating continuously; repeat with another ladle to temper them.

   

6. Pour the tempered yolks back into the pot, stirring. Reincorporate the oysters and the broth you reserved them in. Heat over very low heat until the soup reaches at least 71 °C, checked with a thermometer; you can take 72 °C as a target. Stir gently and do not allow it to boil strongly.

   

7. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice little by little, stirring, along with the pepper. Taste and adjust the salt.
8. Distribute the broth and oysters among four deep bowls. Serve immediately, with the bread toasts on the side.