BE GOOD TO THE OYSTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22714, 29 October 1935, Page 3

BE GOOD TO THE OYSTER

" Let's fast to-day, for to-morrow we shall feast," is sound sense. After four months—plus one Sunday—without any oysters, we can now feast, writes Andre Simon in the Daily Mail. A good oyster is a sound fellow, fresh from the sea, full of life and of goodness. A bad oyster is either sick or dead, and is dangerous. But a good oyster is absolutely safe. To cut off an oyster's beard or to drown it in vinegar, for fear of lurking germs, is a waste of oysters and of vinegar. If one feels nervous about oysters, the only thing to do is to leave them alone,, or else have them stewed, baked, or roasted, covered up with melted cheese or curry powder, c any rich sauce that may bo delicious as a sauce but will make it impossible to

enjoy the fresh flavour of the sea which is one of the chief attractions of the oyster. i To enjoy oysters they must be opened J well; hence free from all small pieces of i shell or grit,, They should also be given ! a good dry white wine to help them j along upon their last journey. i There are two ways of opening ' oysters—the English and the French, "n England the more usual way is to break off the thin edges of the shells sufficiently to insert the oyster knife and snap the membrane which attaches the oyster to its deep shell. The deep shell is then wrenched away, I and the oyster is served on the flat shell, looking iy* best, but having lost I all its own liquor. j ! The other membrane, by which the I | oyster is attached to its flat shell, is j neatly cut off before serving, so that all j one lias to do is to pick up the oyster I

from its shell with one's fork, as if it were a large pea. The French way is just the opposite —the knife is pushed through at the hinge of the two shells, without any of the shell having to be broken; only the top attachment is cut off. The flat shell is thrown away, and the oyster is served in its own liquor in the deep shell. You must have special oyster forks with a sharp blade on one side, with which to cut off the oyster from its shell, and your trouble—a very little trouble once you have acquired the knack —is well repaid by the greater freshness of the oyster. ' -/ Lastly there is the matter of the suitable liquid accompaniment, and there is no question, as far as my own taste goes, that white Burgundy is the best wine for oysters. Chablis is generally recognised as the oyster wine, Lut a Pouilly or Pouilly-Fuisse is also quite suitable.