All's shell that end's shell

About 25 years ago I had my first raw oyster. It was not pleasant. In general, up to that point I had enjoyed oysters prepared in various ways, fried, stewed, casseroled, but not naked. Little did I know that the tub of raw oysters  my mother had procured to concoct an oyster casserole for the Christmas Eve dinner, was not the same critter as the Bullhead canned oysters to which I was accustomed. These, unlike the canned variety, were uncooked. I popped a cold, slimy, ovoid of shellfish into my mouth and was immediately aware that something was amiss. This was not the pleasant liver textured, nugget of intense flavor I was used to, but an alien creature, cold, slightly gritty, and mostly tasting of salt water. Why did people eat these things? Ewwwhhk. I would spend the next 25 or so years avoiding raw bars and raw sampler plates. Until recently.

Some of you are aware of my admiration for Anthony Bourdain. No so much as a chef, but as someone that communicates a passion for food in a way that really hits home for me. So it was with no small amount of envy that I read his description of his first oyster, "at a witless age 9...".

"I took it in my hand, tilted the shell back into my mouth as instructed by the now beaming Monsieur Saint-Jour and with one bite and a slurp, wolfed it down. It tasted of seawater ... of brine and flesh ... and somehow ... of the future.

Everything was different now. Everything.

I'd not only survived -- I'd enjoyed.

... The genie was out of the bottle. My life as a cook, and as a chef, had begun.

Food had power."

I had not enjoyed... I had nearly urked. How had what he eaten been so different from what I had eaten. Besides the obvious difference in freshness. Turns out that would be key. Freshness is absolutely the key to oysters on the 1/2...

To that end I went searching for fresh. I even went so far as to tell my sad story to one of the fish mongers at Whole Foods. He took down my name and number, promising to call when the next shipment arrived. That's pretty fresh for Nashville. Unless you can fork out the dough to have them  flown in...

Fast forward 2 weeks. I stop by Whole Foods to pick up a few things and to enquire about the state of oyster shipments. A different fish monger this time, assures me that there had indeed been deliveries of bi-valves since I had been in last, and that yes I was still on the call list and he was terribly sorry that no one had called. Determined to fulfill his customer service mandate he offered me a free dozen on the next shipment. I was happy to accept.

But I would thwarted in my plans to have fresh oysters... 3 additional weeks pasted and while stopping in on my way to a Memorial Day party to grab strawberries and cream, I head back to the fish counter to give someone what for. I spoke with fish monger number 1 and he remembered me after looking in "the book" and seeing his own hand writing. There was not however a note about the free dozen. He did however offer me a serious deal on a case. An entire case for 17 bucks, approximately 25 cents per oyster, given a count of 70 per case.

I now had fresh oysters and a shiny new shucking knife - and a party to go to where there was most likely not a place to store a box of mollusks. A 2.99 white foam beer cooler from a gas station and a bag of ice fixed that issue.

I had a nice time at the party, I offered fresh shucked oysters to any and all who wanted to try them. I didn't have many takers. But that's where I had my first decent (but not wonderful) raw oyster. I wasn't overly impressed but I wasn't grossed out either. I came to the conclusion that I would give the next raw bar I found myself at a try.

I have since shared a dozen in two different restaurants, in two different states. I think I understand now what Bourdain was talking about. I had a clue about fresh...

So now after all that chatter about my first time failure and mid thirties redemption with oysters, I get to the final point of this post... After the Memorial Day party I still had the lions share of a case of oysters to content with...

So I set about to shucking... I counted about 70 critters needing pried from their mother of pearl homes, which means I actually got a better deal that I had figured, seeing as nearly 2 dozen had been shucked at the party (most of them cooked)

I ended up with nearly a quart of the little snots, and a few decent shell inflicted cuts on my left hand.

One of my favorite dishes growing up was oyster stew. So simple, 1 can of Bullhead oysters, 1 can of whole milk, 2 tablespoons of butter, and enough pepper to turn the whole mixture black...

I wanted to try a fresher version, so I started out with about an ounce of un-smoked bacon in a saucier. I rendered the bacon for about 5 minutes then added a little butter.

Next came the oysters. 8 or so, just over 1/2 a cup.

A pinch of salt, and 8 turns of my pepper mill, 1 tsp chopped flat leaf parley and a tsp of minced tarragon simmered in 1 and 1/2 cups of whole milk for about 15 minutes.

More pepper added to the bowl makes this a bit of an ugly plating - but the flavor was killer.

For now I think I will leave the shucking to professionals and stick to cooking oyster when at home. But I can say with pride that I didn't let on bad experience keep me from learning to really enjoy a creature many refer to a snot on a shell...

Cheers

Chris