Today we had our ServSafe exam so we spent little time in the kitchen cooking. However, the evening was all about oysters. Erin Byers Murry, the author of Shucked, along with her team of 4 macho men, shuckers taught us about the right way to eat an oyster and how to shuck them. The class was open to the public, in which we all experienced an oyster tasting. I have had oysters before and understood the different varieties. Furthermore, I had studied the concept of Merroir in terms of salt, but it was fascinating to hear Erin speak about merroir and oysters. There are only 5 species of oysters in the United States, but many varieties due to the place where they are grown. The nutrients, water temperature, harvesting techniques and so on all impact the flavor, taste, smell, texture and look of the oysters. We tasted 11 oyster types and wow how different they were!
Key points:
-never use cocktail sauce on oysters - cocktail sauce was originally used when there was a lack of refrigeration and the taste of the oyster needed to be disguised
-There are some wild oysters left, but do to contamination, many oyster colonies were killed
-Oysters are dormant from Dec through Saint Patrick's day. They are the best then since they have stored up all the glucose for their winter survival
-oysters are hermaphrodites
-Farmers lease the ocean bottom to grow oysters
-A sharp knife is a good knife for opening oysters but be careful
-if you mess up your oyster while opening, flip it over ;)
-always bite into the oyster to experience the texture and to release the flavors
No comments:
Post a Comment