OYSTERS IN COCKTAIL SAUCE

Monday, February 15, 2010

Oysters have been eaten by man since prehistoric times. Their flavor is delicate and can range from briny to sweet. Some people find oysters icky and slimy, phlem-like. If you can get over this texture issue, you will find that the oyster is one of the most delicious gifts of the sea.

Oysters are found throughout the world’s oceans. They live together in clusters or beds which sometimes grow so large that they form a reef. As filter feeders, oysters extract particles of food from filtering gallons of water through their body. One oyster can filter up to 60 gallons of water a day. This makes the oyster a direct product of its environment: when the water is polluted, so is the oyster. Bacteria and pollutants, in fact, is a very real concern when it comes to eating raw oysters. The FDA tells us that if we are buying oysters for raw consumption, they must be sold either pasteurized (ruins the taste; pass on that) or in their shell.

This is 1 dozen fresh oysters in their shell. The shells should all be shut which indicates a live oyster inside. If the shell is open, the oyster is dead; and you do not want to eat a dead oyster. Throw it out. The tool is for shucking the oyster. Find the opening; insert the tool flat and then twist it to open the shell. It’s not hard once you get the hang of it.

Oysters can be cooked in a variety of ways: roasted, bar be qued, fried, poached, grilled, etc. I prefer them raw. Growing up, we ate oysters often. Back then, my mother would buy raw oysters by the quart from Jamail Brothers Grocery Store where they were brought in fresh every day. She would make a batch of her cocktail sauce and make each of us a little bowl of oysters swimming in it. I think this is the perfect way to introduce raw oysters to a child. A little ketchup-style sauce makes everything taste good.

Today, I buy oysters in their shells when I am going to serve them raw. A dozen or so oysters on the half shell makes a festive appetizer. Last night, I made a festive dinner and shucked a dozen oysters to start. With my children looking on, I slurped an oyster plain. The children were wide-eyed and then completely undone when I explained that the oyster is eaten alive. The little one was close to tears.

I enjoyed that oyster plain, but there are other ways to eat it. You can eat oysters with a drizzle of lemon juice and a dash of Tabasco, with a mignonette sauce (a vinaigrette), or with cocktail sauce. Cocktail sauce is the way to go when you have children or when you are serving the oyster-shy. Serve your oyster cocktail with saltines or French bread and slices of lemon. Slurp or chew; it’s up to you.

COCKTAIL SAUCE
my mother’s recipe

1/2 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 a large lemon)
1-2 Tbsp prepared horseradish
dash Worcestershire Sauce
dash Tabasco
salt to taste

In a small mixing bowl, blend all ingredients. Serve with shrimp, oysters, and other shellfish

OYSTER TRIVIA:

Oysters breathe like fish with gills and mantle
Oysters are hermaphrodites
Since ancient Roman times, oysters have been prized as an aphrodisiac. Casanova ate 50 oysters for breakfast every morning
Four oysters contain all of the RDA of iron, copper, iodine, magnesium, calcium, zinc, manganese, and phosphorus
Oysters can live up to 30 years
As filter feeders, oysters eat food particles from the water. One oyster can filter up to 60 gallons of water each day. This makes them sensitive to water quality
Americans eat more oysters than anyone else in the world
The word “ostracize” comes from oyster. In ancient Roman times, village elders would use oyster shells to vote on whether or not to ban a person from the village: cup up, you could stay; cup-down, you are banished/ostracized
American Indians used oyster shells as currency
A baby oyster is called a spat
A female oyster can lay up to 5 million eggs per year. Usually only one reaches maturity