Thursday 15 May 2008

"'The time has come!', the Walrus said..."

“O, Oysters, come and walk with us!”

The Walrus did beseech.
“A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each.”

The eldest Oyster looked at him,oyster
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head—
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.

But four young Oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat-
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn’t any feet.

(From "The Walrus and the Carpenter", Lewis Carroll)


Oysters natural, freshly shucked and served with lemon
from
Ceduna oysters,
from Oysters aRe Us,
2/3 Dunlop Road,
Mulgrave,
ph: 9545 1333


Further to our newly established "date night" with our friends Joon and George, last night George warily acceded to Furry's request for 4 doz oysters. No, that's NOT a typo. FOUR. DOZEN. OYSTERS.

It's not so bad when you break it down and realise that it's only a doz each.

Just a snack, really.

I put up a shout out over at Chowhound, and got some really good ideas. . Broiled Oyster with Arugula Puree and Champagne Sabayon, Oysters Bienville, and many votes for simply au natural.

My ideas were pooh-poohed by my guests... it's traditional they wanted, so traditional they got.



Oysters done Mornay style. Meredith Dairy marinated goats cheese used.


And again...




pg's oysters with an Asian twist. freshly shucked Ceduna oysters, with terryaki, lime juice and crispy fried shallots.




The classic Oysters Kilpatrick

My fave? Surprisingly, the mornay. It's been about 20 years since I had an oyster mornay, but I think the use of the marinated goats cheese lifted it from the boring 80's dish I remember, to something creamy and sublime. Least fave? The Asian twist. I think I was a bit heavy handed with the terryaki sauce and it overpowered the delicacy of the oyster. The fried shallots were a nice textural component, though. I'd do it again with more lime, less terryaki next time. Furry is off to the supplier to find out more today... ask those pesky SOLE questions and all of that. I will report back what he finds! Stand by for next week's Date Night.

7 comments:

thanh7580 said...

I love oysters as well Ella. A dozen isn't that much hehehe.

Last time, I was experimenting with flavours as well. You can read about it here and here. There were a lot of ideas from other bloggers in the comments that I haven't tried yet.

After my "research", I had a few favourites. One was the tried and true Asian way of a soy based sauce with ginger, garlic, spring onion and black bean that you get at all Chinese restaurants. I also loved the classic of lemon and pepper and finally lemon and tabasco is fantastic as well.

DocChuck said...

AS a dedicated oyster lover, I just had to make a quick comment.

Your photos are some of the most inviting that I have ever seen. Kindly excuse me for saving them to my "favorites" file of food porno.

Great post.

Anonymous said...

PG- This 'date night' you are referring to? Please tell me a) it has nothing to do with one's date & b) its not some sort of surburban swingers party that oysters play a bit-part just to get things started? LOL!

purple goddess said...

Damn, gobbler,

you're on to us..

**furtive sideways glance and shuffle of feet**

Anonymous said...

OMG PG I see the Tastespotting fan with multiple personality disorder has paid a visit - LOL! In a good mood though this time it seems.

Although a purist who loves them bare, I'm not averse to sneaking in the odd Asian style Deep Fried Panko Crumbed bivalve drizzled with Yuzu Ponzu....grrrr!

Mr S has now conquered 72 oysters in one sitting but said that he left room to raise the bar at Oyster Frenzy later in the year.

RecipeGirl said...

These all look absolutely mouthwatering. Delicious!

Anonymous said...

Hi, waving at you from CEDUNA...oyster capital of the world!!!! lol. hope you enjoyed your oysters, i've just had a friend drop in a bagfull of oversized oysters from his oyster farm, free, like probably 10 or 12 dozen, guess what we are having for tea...
smiles from Sue, Ceduna.