Oysters

[Behemoth]

Managing an oyster house as I do,

Best. job. ever.

I haven't had a raw oyster since leaving the east coast. Phooey.

[KatieLoeb]

Managing an oyster house as I do,

Best. job. ever.

I haven't had a raw oyster since leaving the east coast. Phooey.

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You can always come visit me.

[hathor]

[

They are not, I repeat not alive when you eat them unless you are eating them without shucking them first.

This is a myth that should be put to rest once and for all.

However, I do agree with everything else being said in this quote.

As my oyster mentor once told me, "An oyster is like a French Kiss that goes all the way!"

The Oyster Guy

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[aidensnd2]

Oysters are as close to the flavor of sex as it's possible to have without buying cheese.

hehe, I just love this line. Perhaps the best thing I've read so far on this site. Someone should start a thread about food and sex....

[lancastermike]

They are wonderful! For years I had given up raw oysters. I knew a guy who was very ill with hepatitis that it is fairly sure came from raw oysters. I have just recently gone back to them. My of My, when they are fresh nothing is better. My next trip to Philadelphia will include a vist with Katie at her new job for oysters and some wine. Can't wait Like others I taste the ocean, as I taste the earth in a drink of borboun.

[Sam Salmon]

Live Oysters have to be pried off the rocks and then eaten instantly-easy enough to do where I live.

Not necessarily any tastier though-it depends on where one is-standing waist deep in a freezing salt sea isn't always conducive to gastronomic bliss.

Ditto Gooseneck Barnacles.

[Oyster Guy]

[

They are not, I repeat not alive when you eat them unless you are eating them without shucking them first.

This is a myth that should be put to rest once and for all.

However, I do agree with everything else being said in this quote.

As my oyster mentor once told me, "An oyster is like a French Kiss that goes all the way!"

The Oyster Guy

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Oyster Guy: you have an oyster mentor?? Wow. That's impressive.

And what do you mean, they aren't alive? Does that act of shucking kill them?

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[Rebel Rose]

I found it quite similar to waking up face down at the beach with high tide rolling in

Katie, over time I am developing an interesting and complex view of our otherwise proper forum host.

I grew up in the PacNW eating small, firm oysters. The first time I ordered oysters on the half shell in California I was disgusted by the large, slimy things that arrived--they were more like raw eggs than an oyster! Ew. That was about 20 years ago and I still remember those awful things. I couldn't eat them.

I have since learned to differentiate by type and season. A little.

Northwest Oysters

When to eat oysters

We'll be doing some herb-smoked oysters on the grill this Superbowl Sunday. Served in their cleaned shells, with a grilled pepper salsa, sage leaf, and slice of lemon.

[KatieLoeb]

I found it quite similar to waking up face down at the beach with high tide rolling in

Katie, over time I am developing an interesting and complex view of our otherwise proper forum host.

I grew up in the PacNW eating small, firm oysters. The first time I ordered oysters on the half shell in California I was disgusted by the large, slimy things that arrived--they were more like raw eggs than an oyster! Ew. That was about 20 years ago and I still remember those awful things. I couldn't eat them.

I have since learned to differentiate by type and season. A little.

Northwest Oysters

When to eat oysters

We'll be doing some herb-smoked oysters on the grill this Superbowl Sunday. Served in their cleaned shells, with a grilled pepper salsa, sage leaf, and slice of lemon.

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Proper?? Me???? Now that's funny...

Really that's a pretty good description of my first horrible experience with Uni. I found it to be the singularly most disgusting foodstuff I'd ever had. It was like eating wet sand. Blech! It's amazing I ever even gave it another try after the wretch-inducing experience the first time around. Thankfully, I have persistent friends and know a very talented sushi chef.

Your recipe for Herb-smoked oysters would be most appreciated. I'll be watching the Super Bowl with a reasonably proper bunch of folks - and thinking fondly of your oysters because they sound delicious.

Go Eagles!!!!! Woo-hoo!!!!

[Tonyy13]

Oysters are something that I have come to miss now that I have moved from New England, where the oysters that we got were sexy, plump, firm, gorgeous, briny, and full of flavor (sex flavor that is.... ). Like Anthony Bourdain said, I will always remember my first oyster, it was in Newport, Rhode Island, after the Taste of Rhode Island event at the docks, and I was with my two mentors, who were mad because of what an awful event it was. I still can taste that beautiful Blue Point oyster, slathered w/ cocktail sauce (sometimes I utilize the oyster as a platform for my condiments, slander, I know... ).

Since moving to Florida, I realize how nice I had it in N.E. I took for granted the gorgeous seafood that we had, and now realize that Florida seafood is for the birds!! The gulf coast oysters that I get down here are crap, straight crap, they are huge, transluscent so much that you can practically see through them, and no matter how cold you serve them, they never taste of brine, oyster, or sex. They never taste like anything!! I don't particularly care for cooked oysters in any way, as when I started in kitchens, we used to get buckets of shucked oysters, and used to throw the "sea snot" on top at the new guys in teh kitchen.

Oh... we used to make a tomato water and horseradish sorbet to go on top of the oysters, then put some thinly sliced scallion on top; the best!!

Edited February 2, 2005 by Tonyy13 (log)

[Oyster Guy]

[quote=Tonyy13,Feb 2 2005, 05:14 AM I still can taste that beautiful Blue Point oyster, slathered w/ cocktail sauce (sometimes I utilize the oyster as a platform for my condiments, slander, I know... ).

we used to get buckets of shucked oysters, and used to throw the "sea snot" on top at the new guys in teh kitchen.

The real slander is using cocktail sauce!

If the Blue Point was that good, why would you ruin it by covering it in what amounts to ketchup? And how could you even taste it?

I have never understood why people even use that stuff unless it's with something like boiled jumbo shrimp which lack anything close to resembling taste anyways.

I haven't served cocktail sauce with any oyster in over 2 years and my guests actually thank me for opening their eyes to the fact that this practice should be treated along the same lines as, i.e. wife-beating or child abuse.

"Sea-snot?" If you worked in the oyster places I have, even referring to the oyster in this way would get you beaten like a circus monkey or at the very least like a rented mule!

Are you actually sure that you like them?

[Tonyy13]

The real slander is using cocktail sauce!

If the Blue Point was that good, why would you ruin it by covering it in what amounts to ketchup?

I haven't served cocktail sauce with any oyster in over 2 years and my guests actually thank me for opening their eyes to the fact that this practice should be treated along the same lines as, i.e. wife-beating or child abuse.

"Sea-snot?"  If you worked in the oyster places I have, even referring to the oyster in this way would get you beaten like a circus monkey or at the very least like a rented mule!

Are you actually sure that you like them?

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I LOVE oysters!! I love them any way raw, even with the blasphemed mignonette!! When I first started eating oysters, I ate them with lots of cocktail sauce because that is what I was taught, and saw, just like adding tons of sugar and cream to my coffee. I have since learned that less is more, and even though I do still love a little cocktail sauce with my oysters from time to time (w/ FRESH grated horseradish and tons of lemon and pepper), that doesnt' mean that I don't enjoy them straight up either. And when I am in the mood, I put plenty of sugar and cream in my coffee.

OH.... sea snot is what we called it, and it was pretty gross, slime, kind of like water that has been thickened with slurry.... not like sexy brine...... I got beaten like a rented mule all the time at that job, for a host of reasons though, not one of them for calling it sea snot...

Edited February 2, 2005 by Tonyy13 (log)

[phaelon56]

The first time I ordered oysters on the half shell in California I was disgusted by the large, slimy things that arrived--they were more like raw eggs than an oyster! Ew. That was about 20 years ago and I still remember those awful things. I couldn't eat them.

Growing up in the Northeast I did enjoy raw clams (Cherrystones in particular) many times over the years btu never "got it" when peopel raved abotu raw oysters. The few times I tried them (once or twice here in central NY state and once at the Acme Oyster House in New Orleans) they were the large slimy things. Then I tried some raw oysters in Seattle. Wow. The taste fo the ocean was so immediate and so intense that my opinion was changed forever. But I'm still very particular about what type I eat and where I eat them.

Speaking of seafoood revelations... I'v e had "moules frites" (mussels with frites) on many occasions at a few French and Belgian places here in the US and found the mussels to be okay but not thrilling. I had the good fortune to finally manage a one week vacation in Paris recently and ordered moules frites one evening as it was a ubiquitous and moderately priced option in most cafes. These mussels were tiny and sweet with barely a trace of the messy connective tissue and other glop that typifies the large aquaculture mussels typically found here in the US. It was as much or perhaps an even more of a profound awakening than the first time I tried good oysters.

[Viola da gamba]

I'm with Rebel Rose on the NW oyster thing - I really don't like the big ones - the smaller, the better.

Oh - and I really don't like cooked oysters at all. Raw & fresh or nothing. So sad that I no longer live in Vancouver ...

[DTBarton]

For the non-oyster lovers or the oyster uninitiated: You must understand that not all oysters are created equal.

A poor oyster for my taste is watery and lacking in saltiness. These oysters will taste bland and are awful raw. I live in Maryland and Chesapeake Bay oysters are sold around here and often they are watery. Try to make oyster stew with them and it's bland, there's no flavor in the oyster liquor. I have better luck with Chincoteague oysters from VA. My personal favorites are Bulls Bay oysters from South Carolina but you pretty much have to head down there to get them (or convince your SC friends to come visit and deliver).

A good oyster for me is not too large and has a clean, briny taste that's the essence of the sea. It is enhanced raw with a bit of lemon and horseradish, but don't drown it in wimpy cocktail sauce (a little cocktail is OK, ask for extra hrseradish and use it sparingly).

Lesser oysters can be salvaged somewhat by frying in a light coating that adds some salt, but it's hard to fix them for raw or stew.

So, unbelievers, search out some good oysters with a believer and be converted!

[Chris Amirault]

Oysters are as close to the flavor of sex as it's possible to have without buying cheese.

hehe, I just love this line. Perhaps the best thing I've read so far on this site. Someone should start a thread about food and sex....

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tanabutler is exactly right. Honestly, I am immediately suspicious of people who don't like oysters or that very reason....

And aidensnd is also right -- we should start a thread on food and sex. Has there never been one?

[AzRaeL]

I've been CONVERTED!

After all my complaints about Oysters, it's just been that i've been trying to eat large Pacific Gigas. The size of a small mouse.

Just Yesterday I was at Oyster Bar near Sammish Island in Washington along Chuckanut Road. I had 3 of the Finest Oysters ever. The OysterFarm was just down the road and they were fresh. They didn't have the dead fish scent and gross flavour I usually associate with Oysters. I had a Kumamoto (or something like that), Kusshi and another I can't remember.

Holy COW they were good. They were about the size of the first joint of my thumb but they didn't reek of whatever shit it was.

The worst Oyster I ever ate stank like a sewer and when i tried to send it back, they said that it smells that that. It took forever to wash that taste out of my mouth. That restaurant closed shortly, I wonder why.

[Tough Cookie]

I've been CONVERTED!

After all my complaints about Oysters, it's just been that i've been trying to eat large Pacific Gigas. The size of a small mouse.

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This is the one time where smaller is DEFINITELY better!!!

I like them straight up, sometimes with a squeeze of lemon and with ponzu sauce. The taste of raw oysters are so sweet, they are absolutely addictive.

[KatieLoeb]

AzRaeL:

Kumamotos are a fave of mine. Small, but packed with flavor, however subtle it might be.

If you can find some Quilcene oysters try those. I think you'll like them. They're also rather delicate but quite flavorful. Like a breath of ocean air.

[AzRaeL]

I've been CONVERTED!

After all my complaints about Oysters, it's just been that i've been trying to eat large Pacific Gigas. The size of a small mouse.

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This is the one time where smaller is DEFINITELY better!!!

I like them straight up, sometimes with a squeeze of lemon and with ponzu sauce. The taste of raw oysters are so sweet, they are absolutely addictive.

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Ok who wants to organise a trip down to Sammish island and eat oysters at the farm freshly shucked with a glass of wine. They're USD 30 for 5 doz.

[jamiemaw]

BEFORE

Top of my list of food that I am ashamed not to love.

Oysters.

I try to eat them to prove I'm cool and make like Cassanova but honestly, the taste is kinda icky. The texture..well i kinda swallow as fast as i can. The flavour is tolerable at best..makes me Gag usually.

Oysters...they're alright in a chowder. Only really good when smoked and served on a pizza.

What's it about Oysters that you people love so much? I wanna love it too. I just don't get it.

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Imagine how the first guy to eat one felt. Especially because, in order to get at the good stuff he was likely caught between a rock and a hard place.

AFTER

I've been CONVERTED!

After all my complaints about Oysters, it's just been that i've been trying to eat large Pacific Gigas. The size of a small mouse.

Just Yesterday I was at Oyster Bar near Sammish Island in Washington along Chuckanut Road. I had 3 of the Finest Oysters ever. The OysterFarm was just down the road and they were fresh. They didn't have the dead fish scent and gross flavour I usually associate with Oysters. I had a Kumamoto (or something like that), Kusshi and another I can't remember.

Holy COW they were good. They were about the size of the first joint of my thumb but they didn't reek of whatever shit it was.

The worst Oyster I ever ate stank like a sewer and when i tried to send it back, they said that it smells that that. It took forever to wash that taste out of my mouth. That restaurant closed shortly, I wonder why.

See, some quality Kumamotos can have that effect. So congratulations on your persistence--most would have given up forever. What you have now discovered is that oysters are simply sex incarnate. And that's all ye need to know.

[johnnyd]

They're USD 30 for 5 doz.

Whoa! I'm in...

[AzRaeL]

They're USD 30 for 5 doz.

Whoa! I'm in...

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ain't it quite a drive all the way from Portland?

here's the address anyway - http://www.taylorshellfishfarms.com

I dunno why my friends are so squeamish about raw oysters.

I admit I didn't think that highly of them but I wanted to try them at the farm where they are grown.

[johnnyd]

Yup, too far. I love 'em so much I do the damnest things to get to the fresh ones. You have a great price there. Our best Maine oysters go for $1.25 each right now.

[AzRaeL]

Yup, too far.  I love 'em so much I do the damnest things to get to the fresh ones.  You have a great price there.  Our best Maine oysters go for $1.25 each right now.

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Kumamoto are $9 a doz on the half shell.