Call me sheltered, but I’ve never had the opportunity to suck down an oyster. I watched an episode of Mad Men last night where two of the characters each had a platter of a dozen oysters in front of them which they enjoyed in between sips of Martini. Then, they each ordered another dozen.
While they do sound gross, they also look like fun to eat. I’m going on a cruise next month, so I may just get my opportunity.
Are they an acquired taste? Does anyone actually like them from the first slurp? Is there sauce that is commonly used? Perhaps lemon juice?
I’m interested in hearing from those who love 'em and those who hate 'em.
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I had raw oysters for the first time back in October. I tried the first one plain just to see what I was getting into. It was cold and it is kind of slimy feeling and tastes like the ocean. I could live with it plain. They came with lemon sections for the juice, along with cocktail sauce and some really fresh, grated horseradish.
I haven’t had the chance to have any since then but I will, for sure, get them again.
They’re great, if you like the smell of the ocean. Because Ike is right: they taste exactly like the ocean smells (not a nasty rotting tidal flat smell, but the real ocean), with just enough substance to make you feel you’re eating something. Of course, some people just don’t like the taste (if you don’t like fish at all, maybe you should pass), or can’t get past the sliminess, so best advice is just to try one. Some people may acquire the taste, but most of us loved them from the first bite – it’s not like coffee or beer or wasabi where you need to really work to appreciate it.
Typical garnishes are lemon juice, cocktail sauce, horseradish or mignonette (some kind of vinegar, pepper and other things, sometimes frozen). Try one without anything to begin with, so you know what it really tastes like. Remember, the juice inside the shell is just as good as the solid (well, sort-of-solid) part, so slurp away.
Growing up on the Gulf Coast, fried shrimp baskets were a standby at the drive-in. Fried oysters were a treat at Jimmy Walker’s in Kemah.
My mother was nervous the first time she split a dozen raw oysters with me–in a Seabrook dive with fresh, fresh seafood. No “acquiring a taste” was needed. I slurped them right down…
One of my earliest memories is of me hiding under the dining room table while my dad and mom were talking. I was supposed to be in bed, but instead I was sitting under the table quietly while my dad secretly passed deep fried oysters to me. I was very young and always loved oysters.
I didn’t have the nerve to try them raw until well into adulthood. They are divine. I ordered a plate of half a dozen and each one was flavored differently. But they can also be awful if not rinsed properly. Biting into grit can ruin the experience. I’m not sure how I feel about a cruise being your first try. I’ve only been on one cruise, but the food was so-so at best.
If you don’t eat a lot of sea food especially in raw state start with something more familiar then gradually get up to raw oysters. Yes, it is acquired taste. I love em though real big one sometimes gross me out; I think small ones taste better.
Try oyster rockerfeller or fried oyster first if you never had oyster before.
Love 'em, loved 'em from first bite, and I’ll take raw oysters over cooked every time…I also suggest going very light on the condiments so you can actually taste them.
This is some of the best advice you will get if you’ve never had oysters.
Note also that there are dozens if not hundreds of species of oysters out there, and they all have their own special properties. The joy of oysters is like the joy of wine: trying different types and finding the ones you love best.
My own opinion is the ones from the Gulf are the best in the world; raw, fried, Rockafeller, beinville, any way at all…but I haven’t had any since BP took a big dump there last year.
Oh and they idea that they increase your libido is mostly baloney. Or placebo effect.
Oysters are great! We sometimes steam them, and serve them with garlic butter.
As for the sauces, I like the raw ones with a small drizzle of cocktail sauce and a tiny dollop of horseradish. Not too much, otherwise it just overpowers the oyster.
Not really. Nearly all the oysters on the East coast of the US are one single species. They take their names from where they were harvested (Blue point oysters are just the same any other – they got their name because they originated in Blue Point, NY). There are variations in flavor because of the differences in the environment.
Don’t like them and can’t eat them: raw, deep-fried, in soup, or any other way. It’s a consistency problem for me and is the equivalent of eating a big glob of snot.
I’m not sure whether this is fact or not but my own conclusion is that oysters from cloudy water (near land Atlantic/Gulf vs Pacific as a rough comparison) are better than crystal clear pretty waters. And as I said bigger doesn’t mean better in oyster flavor.
Next, they are an acquired taste, as you will not necessarily be tasting the flesh of the oyster, but the brine from the waters they came from.
I didn’t realize that you slurped and shot them and spent twenty minutes chewing one. :smack: That being said, I love oysters in their own brine, second only to oysters with a splash of tabasco.
Some like it with lemon juice and/or horseradish.
Order some, and ask the server/chef to give you a sample of “toppers”
