Oysters: The Topic

[winesonoma]

Can anyone advise how do you make the shallot stuff that I have had served before?

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I think you are thinking of a mignonnette. I believe it is simply finely diced shallots, cracked black pepper, and champagne vinegar. This is my absolute favorite thing to eat with raw oysters... well aside from plain oysters and oysters with a dash of lemon (meyer if you got it).

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I made one this year with Fig Balsamic Vinegar. Was a really big hit.

[PCL]

Reduced balsamic, infused with lightly crushed peppercorns, tempered with a touch of lemon juice. It's a Tuscan thing if you're interested in the origins, the Versilia to be exact.

[Bux]

Perhaps because oysters were once much less expensive than they are now, the practice of dousing them with hot sauce, horseradish and other overpowering ingredients became popular. In my humble opinion the best oysters should be enjoyed with little more than some freshly cracked pepper and a few drops of lemon juice or a few drops of mignonette sauce which is little more than wine vinegar, minched shallots and black pepper. One could also substitute a crisp wine (chablis, muscadet, etc.) for the vinegar. I don't think I've even seen them eaten with horseradish, hot sauce, chili sauce or anything of the kind in France. It's usually lemon juice or mignonette sauce and always accompanied by French rye bread and butter. I have had oysters with a drop of caviar and that can be wonderful, but it seems like gilding the lily and something a restaurant does because their prices are based more on labor than on materal.

There is one preparation using raw oysters I have enjoyed and that was a judicious blend of chopped raw oyster mixed with raw fish tartar and minced herbs. I don't have a recipe to offer for a fish or herbs that work.

Forget the hard boiled eggs. With caviar they extend the caviar, but they really adulterate it, so you have more of a substance that's less than caviar. I don' t know how they'd do anything to or for the oysters.

[Janice]

There is one preparation using raw oysters I have enjoyed and that was a judicious blend of chopped raw oyster mixed with raw fish tartar and minced herbs. I don't have a recipe to offer for a fish or herbs that work.

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I have had an excellent oyster tartar that was a mix of about 50/50 with raw scallops.

I can't remember if there were any herbs - I suspect not.

[petite tête de chou]

This and other recipes for oysters use fresh chervil. Sounds good to me.

[jeremysco]

Manyt thanks to you all.

Mignonette sauce it is. I will try make with a couple of different vinegars later today.

I will also try the balsamic as my sister has brought me some Invechiatto back from Milan. It is a little too fancily packed for my liking (Foam pads around bottle in a specially shaped metal case) but you never know.

I once had a small flask given to me by an Italian friend that contained some Balsamic that was fifty years old. His family started a new cask every year and kept them at their summer retreat. He said that the levels in the barrel got lower and lower as it intensified but that they never used anything under 40 years old. Each family member got one small flask each year.

I felt truly honored. It was earthy, sweet and just the most delicious thing.

My friend has just been given the secrets of how it is made by his father and is now responsible for the new production. I asked him how it was made and he said that if he told me he would have to kill me. It almost seemed worthwhile.

[PCL]

If its invechiatto, use sparingly, you won't even need to infuse anything or reduce anything... a little in sauce plate with a few drops lemon juice to temper and spoon on to the little bastards before consumption...

[tanabutler]

Christmas day and after the wild River Towy Smoked Salmon we have  six dozen oysters Colchester Native No.4 to eat with some chilled vodka.

Apart from the tabasco and lemons what else should I offer as a addition? Someone suggested boiled eggs (I have tried them with caviar and decided they ruined good caviar but Ive never tried it with oysters)

Can anyone advise how do you make the shallot stuff that I have had served before?

Just FYI they are being followed by a boullion then Foie Gras on Bread fried in dripping then Confit duck with green beans and roast potatoes

Pud and cheeses. (C. Basset Stilton,  Northumberland (just the most amazing thing ever made from milk) Kielder (so golden it looks like butter.) and St Endellion)

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Our ever-present oyster bath is a variation on the one that Hog Island Oyster Company calls "Hogwash."

Rice wine vinegar, minced jalapeños (and a little of their brine), minced cilantro, and fresh lime juice.

You'll pucker your shoes off. We never want anything else on 'em!

[docsconz]

All that other stuff is fine, but for me agood oyster is perfection simply with a little fresh squeezed lemon. Yum.

[jeremysco]

I promise to try couple of each type of dressing on the first half dozen or so and then if there are any left I will have the next 1/2 dozen or so in my chosen way.

Do think of me...and although I will try to think of you all I suspect that I will be totally self centered.

I made the confit duck last night and it is now in the firdge. I ate the necks as a snack after cooking and they were absolutely fantastic. Chefs perks at their best.

[jeremysco]

The oysters were fantastic. Best on their own or maybe with just the slightest hint of lemon juice.

The recommended Mignotte was good but maybe a bit too strong. I see from Larouse that Mignotte is actually "coursely ground black pepper". My copy lists the sauce as and Shallot and Red wine Vinegar with mignotte.

My Invechiatto Balsamic was sidelined in the end for a tiny bottle that my brother in law had that cost him the equivalent of 100 euros ten years ago. We pulled the cork and it was better than mine by a distance.

The smoked salmon was brilliant but after four days of smoked salmon at every opportuntity I squeesed some lemons on it and put it in the fridge with a load of fresh dill. Two days later out came version of cooked smoked salmon with just the faintest hint of dill infused into it. Sliced fairly thickly it was different enough from the plain smoked to keep up the interest.

Roll on next christmas.

[Phatlouie07]

a hint of lemon is best in my opinion. i haven't tried oysters with caviar yet. what kind of caviar do you accompany oysters with?

[culinary bear]

What to eat with oysters? more oysters.

Or vodka. Bisongrass vodka is especially nice.

[johnnyd]

a hint of lemon is best in my opinion. i haven't tried oysters with caviar yet.  what kind of caviar do you accompany oysters with?

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One year we had osetra - a little goes a long way. Another time we got paddlefish, which was fine. I would say it's an on-going survey, albeit a very slow one...

[RobStagis]

Beer - and more oysters :)

[stephenc]

You wuss. Mignonette? Haha. Haha, seriously all you need is a few drops of Tabasco.

[Oyster Guy]

Freshly grated horseradish, vodka infused with jalepeno, diced shallots and black peppercorns, chilled of course with freshly cracked black pepper.

Or with a little lemon slurped from a naked woman's navel!

[KatieLoeb]

We serve mignonette only with our West coast oysters. Wedges of lemon and cocktail sauce with East coast. I could probably get an exact explanation on why tomorrow at work.

There's a BIG bowl of "oyster crackers" and a container of horseradish with a spoon at every place setting at my bar and on every table in the dining room. We go through a boatload of horseradish every week because the crackers are addictive with the horseradish all by themselves.

Oyster Guy - do you have a recipe for jalapeno infused horseradish?? I'm working on some house infused vodka ideas for oyster shooters and could use some direction.

[winesonoma]

Please explain to me why you add anything to an Oyster. It stands alone as does most seafood.

[Syrah]

Can anyone advise how do you make the shallot stuff that I have had served before?

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I think you are thinking of a mignonnette. I believe it is simply finely diced shallots, cracked black pepper, and champagne vinegar. This is my absolute favorite thing to eat with raw oysters... well aside from plain oysters and oysters with a dash of lemon (meyer if you got it).

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Ohhh Ohhh I just bought champagne vinegar for the first time. I got excited at the deli. I just love this idea.

[jackal10]

Chablis and a good cigar to follow...

[EdS]

Perhaps it's heresy but I still recall fondly the Fried Oyster Po-boy I had over 10 years ago in N'awlins.

[phifly04]

Oyster stew with some good hard tack crackers-very simple flavors,but very,very good

[Malawry]

A few oyster memories...

1. Spending a night in the kitchen at 2941. There were kushimoto oysters around for a special dinner they were doing. Chef Jonathan Krinn opens two and hands one to me. We suck them back naked. I'm startled briefly, the brine is so sweet and salty, and I can't speak for a minute. Chef Jonathan says, "Forget it. I'm quitting so I can go in there and eat this stuff with them."

2. Nosing around New Orleans last March, we happen upon a nice farmer's market. There's somebody there who sells oysters. They offer free samples. The only condiment offered is Crystal hot sauce, so we dutifully add a dash and slurp 'em down. The sauce tames the saltiness a bit and accents the slightly fishy flavor. Excellent.

3. Two weeks ago in Paris, I am eager to try the famous Belon oyster. I order a half-dozen at Vaudeville, a good brasserie not too far from our hotel, because it's the first place we've been that they're on the menu. They arrive opened and loosened, arranged on a bed of crushed ice with a few scattered lemon slices. A plate of cocktail rye bread with a pat of very salty butter comes alongside, along with a bowl of mignonette. My favorite touch: a bowl of water with a slice of lemon for cleaning my hands afterwards. I am in heaven eating these oysters, with just a drop of lemon juice to cut their richness a little. I alternate with buttered bread, just to make the experience last longer.

In sum, I'll try oysters anywhere and anyway they're served, but they don't need anything fancy if you don't want to go there.

[NulloModo]

Please explain to me why you add anything to an Oyster. It stands alone as does most seafood. 

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Sure they can stand alone, but they are even better with stuff. I prefer tobasco and lemon, but, I have never had a mignonette sauce.

Oysters baked with lots of goodies like cheese, spinach, caviar, ham, or whatever else are great too.

Things that can be enjoyable all on their lonesome are great, this tis true, but I am also a firm believer that most of the time, more is more.