Early in our relationship, MTM received a cookbook. Intercourses. From, ahem, someone.
A visual feast, Intercourses divides the food groups into the necessities: Gnoshes proven to get a person laid.
Oysters comprise a whole section.
Last night, I came full circle with reader and very talented photographer Robert Johnson. And oysters.
MTM took me to The Optimist in Atlanta (to reward me for riding in a car ten hours on deadline, looking to fill my creative tank at the High, only to arrive and realize every show I want to see opens in three weeks…..) To temper my frustration, MTM ordered oysters. One a Well Fleet oyster. Robert snapped them in situ here: http://quotidianhudsonriver.com/2014/08/05/8-5-14-oyster-farming-low-tide-blackfish-creek/
And we ate them.
**Champagne image from the Intercourses cookbook. Plenty more where it came from.
33 Comments
I have never eaten oysters before; looks like a succulent meal
They’re a tasty starter. If one eats enough of them, they make a meal.
Best Oysters I ever had were at The Fig in Charleston South Carolina. They were so good, I started with an appetizer of six that turned in to reordered and reordered until I had a complete meal. 🙂 Delicious. Little tiny ones off their coastal islands.
When were you in Charleston? Next time you’re here, you’d better let me know. 🙂
Mike Lata (FIG chef) has opened a new place called The Ordinary. They have a separate oyster bar, much like The Optimist in Atlanta. I still prefer FIG over the new place, though.
We had to make our reservations three months in advance. I love that guy. When we were there, he was about to open the other restaurant but had not yet. We were staying at The King Charles Westin across the street. We rode the horse drawn carriage and went to see the Angel Tree. It was a good time. My younger sister lives there on Sullivan’s Island.
We live in oyster town….they’re everywhere and I love them. The ones from Marennes-Oleron and l’anse d’Aiguillon are, to my mind, the best that can be had. Gillardeau oysters are the Rolls Royce..sold in most 3 star Michelin restaurants world wide – http://www.charcuterie-sibilia.com/4-saucissons-secs . Check them out when you’re in France.
MTM is making food notes now. 🙂
Here am I, a bit after 8 a.m., reading about oysters and the differences between one and another of them; Well Fleet, Pickle Point, Cotuit….. Who knew?
As previously confided here, I eat mine fried and ONLY fried, but even the non-foodie that I am is able to discern the differences between the East Coast oyster and one caught and prepared in the Pacific Northwest. I did not know, however, that their tastes could vary so much up and down the East Coast.
I know you said you were going back to the northeast, but I don’t remember your timetable — in time for this, maybe? http://www.wellfleetoysterfest.org/allaboutoysters.php
I tried two, and they were very different. The BC oyster was better than the east coast one I had. (The East Coast was Naked Cowboy. MTM refused to eat something called Naked Cowboy after he ordered it, so I was stuck with it.)
I cannot bring myself to ask….. 😮
What a alluring cookbook – and the oysters look divine, Andra. I’m not much of an oyster connoisseur, but, should these could turn my tastebuds around.
Mostly, I feel like I’m eating snot when I eat oysters. But I try them sometimes, just to stretch myself. 🙂
Exactly. Raw shellfish is not my idea of awesome. Who wants to eat snot? I don’t feel the need to stretch myself in that direction. I’m willing to eat lots of strange and new things (with the exception, perhaps, of insects–those I have difficulty with the idea of eating, period), but raw oysters aren’t on the list. Especially if they have seaweed notes, since seaweed tends to make me want to vomit. Which leaves sushi restaurants out of the question, too. The smell of seaweed is rank. I don’t know why I have such a reaction to it. I WANT to love it, since I love most Asian cuisines. But my nose and tastebuds forbid it. 🙁
Your oysters were High? Now there is a story in and of itself.
I already have a date to go back and actually SEE the exhibits I want to see. Duh. I’m in such a fog right now.
There is a fabulous oyster bar at a restaurant in the Distillery District. When you visit, we could go there for dinner and a few doors down to Soma for dessert. 🙂
p.s. I’m shocked Cock Soup didn’t make the cookbook. 🙂
You’re on. 🙂
Every cookbook needs some cock soup.
Oysters are a fact of life. They are also a necessity. They have wound their magic through my entire life. Every once in a while, we put a one-night-only band together and call it Hot Oyster.
Next time I eat oysters, I’m going to be thinking Hot Oyster the whole time……….
I love the oysters. Don’t get them often here, and am hesitant when I do. It’s nice to have an ocean nearby.
I’m not an ocean person, but having lived where I can see water for so long, I don’t know how I’d be landlocked. Of course, fresh seafood is a plus.
Uh, yeah, as I said when I shared this on Google…the pictures as Art are beautiful, but as food??? Uh, yeah, not so much…made me barf up just a little (which totally wasn’t great since the last thing I ate was a Qwest Bar…).
I think I may have this cookbook, too. There’s a whole section on Avocados, strawberries, honey… there’s a french toast recipe in there that makes me want to have intercourse with myself.
WhenI lived in San Fransisco I went to an opening function at a new restaurant with six cohorts. All but one of us (she was pregnant) had the oyster appetiser. All of us except the pregnant one were out ill for five days. Haven’t touched one since. Loved the photo of you with the champagne glass in your toes. 🙂 (yes I read the photo credit)
It took years for me to learn to eat oysters. I do enjoy them at Lowcountry area oyster roasts. The best is when my friend Mary Edna’s husband John roasts them over a wood fire. The oysters take on a smoky flavor that is simply amazing. Give me a cold beer, some hot oysters and a group of friends on a chilly night round the oyster shucking table next to a tidal creek on the South Carolina coast and I’m in heaven.
I’ve only enjoyed Oysters Rockefeller, and I think that oyster enthusiasts they might be cheating a bit. Sounds like a very interesting cookbook…and it doesn’t surprise me at all that you and MTM own it! 🙂 Hope you enjoyed the time in Atlanta, even with some scheduling disappointments!
Wow! I hope your creative tank was filled up!
I’m pretty ignorant about oysters. I’ve only had them once at a really good seafood restaurant in my area.
Yummy! Those look wonderful! We are just beginning our oyster season and I can’t wait for the oyster roasts to ensue. 🙂
I thought you were going to check with me first before posting that champagne picture of me!!!? Oh well…
Nothing more blissful than inhaling the aroma of a naked fresh oyster before slurping its salty and buttery juices and chewing it slowly before… swallowing. Oh my, where was I?
Gorgeous! fyi, you’ll see me commenting backwards; catching up on my reader today.
Alas, my wife is veggie.
Thanks for the bump!
I love oysters, cooked and raw. I heard for years they were an aphrodisiac. But when I eat them, I feel the same, but I need at least 4 beers to complete the experience.
sidenote: My wife, the trained chef, has a multitude of cookbooks. I’ve never read one.
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