THE SUCCULENT OYSTER.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume III, Issue 361, 21 February 1914, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE SUCCULENT OYSTER.

HOW TO EAT HIM, AND WHAT TO DRINK WITH HIM.

Tile true way to enjoy an oyster is to eat him raw, on his half-shell, fresh from the hands of the man who opens his shell. If the oyster is fresh and in good condition, he- will need no additions. There be barbarians who cover him with vinegar er ketchup, of whom we take no account. Others there are who sprinkle him with white pepper for their stomachs' sake, and with these we have no quarrel if they acknowledge their com plaint. Some add cayenne-pepper or sauce, so that they may destroy their sense of taste until they have swallowed their oyster. A squeeze of lemon is sometimes necessary when the oyster has been sojourning in fresh water, and has not his proper salty flavour. But your right oyster, engulfed by the right man, needs no condiments; he stands alone on his merits and finds a comfortable home wherever he goes. The best drink to accompany oysters is still a matter of doubt. If the oyster be not too salt then it is best to drink nothing with him, or before him, or after him. Yet it is well to provide for those who have a sinking feeling after swallowing a dozen raw oysters. Any form of spirits is not recommended, though there was a great Irish Judge whose chief diet was neat brandy and oysters. A very dry champagne agrees excellently with oysters. The stoute of Dublin and London are much vaunted by their respective cities as the true accompanist to the oyster, and there is much to be said in favour of this liquor, because it forms a gradual and impalpable union with the oyster when they meet.

To the pure lover of oysters it is always an open question whether a cooked oyster can be considered as having any longer a claim to his name. The French cook ean cunningly distribute one oyster over twelve pates, so that each pate will taste as if a whole oyster had been cooked in it; but this is merely the flavour of oysters. The chief use which the English cook makes of oysters is to add them to white soup as a variant. In America, however, there are three common methods of cooking oysters in the country—stewing, frying, and roasting them; and it must be admitted that the average cook in a Yankee oyster restaurant is exceedingly skilful in (heating the oyster through without forcing it to coagulate. Those who want to absorb oysters without eating them raw should try them roasted, as ’this .method of cooking best preserves the original form and taste.