Les Huîtres

This past weekend, our group took an excursion out to the Bassin d’Arachon, famous for the highest sand dune in Europe, beaches and also for their oysters. In true French form, the priority stop, the first one, was of course at the Maison d’Huîtres where we learned about the farming of oysters in the museum before moving on to an oyster restaurant for the dégustation (the tasting). The dune and the beach could wait.
At the museum we learned that the Bassin d’Arachon is an ideal spot for producing oysters. Unlike some places they grow them in mesh bags to protect them from predators whereas other producers grow the oysters just on the floor of the bay. Oysters can live at least 25 years, longer even I think though I don’t remember the exact number. We typically eat them when they are three years old. The oysters from the bay of Arachon taste different from those in the open ocean because of water salinity and other such things. From what I understood of the presentation given in French the Bassin is an estuary, giving very visible changes the depth of the water at low and high tide. Oysters have been eaten since prehistoric times. The Romans would eat anywhere between 100 and 150 oysters per person and the Greeks used the shells as voting papers. Louis XIV absolutely adored oysters and gave them their status as a delicacy. Don’t quote me on this but I think they said that his chef committed suicide or died because he was unable to serve oysters one night.
After our instruction on the production and life cycle (including reproduction, they switch gender back and forth, one year female, then next male, without consistancy) of the oysters, we walked around the boat landing to a tiny restaurant passing piles of empty shells, stacks of tiles and empty mesh bags giving the area an air of authenticity. Our group of Americans all crowded around picnic tables inside and outside and stared, both impatiently and warily, at the plates piled high with les huîtres crues, the raw oysters still on their shell. The salty water which probably came from the ocean still covered the oysters and the plate surrounding them, specially made with impressions around the circumference for the shells to rest in. A few slices of lemon were casually placed on top of the pile.
We were given our marching orders; one glass of wine and six oysters per person. If there is extra, it is to be passed to the next table. Afterward there will be meats, cheeses and a tarte. For the vegetarians (those who are not taking a break like I am), a cup of nuts was given in place of the oysters.
For such a small animal, oysters can be fairly intimidating, but we plunged in, most of us without too much cringing. After watching the first couple brave souls clumsily detach the oyster from its mooring on the shell, squirt them with lemon and swallow them down without any ill effects it was time for me to try. I had been pretty excited about the chance to taste them, but for some reason I was imagining something plump and white, and the thin, grey creature on the shell was less appetizing than I was expecting. Despite this I took my plastic fork and scraped the creature free and after pouring off a bit of the extra seawater that appeared I dumped it into my mouth, chewed a couple times and swallowed.
Those who said it tasted like ocean were dead on. It was as if a bit of ocean solidified into a slightly slippery/slimy chewy mass inside a shell. Now there is nothing wrong with the taste of the ocean, I’ve gotten a few mouthfuls in my time just messing around on the beach, but as a delicacy, I have not been completely sold. I tried one oyster on a piece of bread spread with butter as the guy across from me was doing, but the smooth butter just accentuated the slipperiness of the mollusk (it is a mollusk right?). Occasionally bits of grit and shell came with the flesh which added authenticity, but was not the most enjoyable thing texturally.
I did not finish my share of six but did make it through four without any gagging or choking. I was very proud of myself since I was once a very picky child who reacted badly to even a zucchini. My neighbor to my left took care of any extras that were left by me and others who were unconvinced of the greatness of the oyster. Not just finishing the extras on our table but collecting some from other tables who completely hated them and finishing off at least an entire plate by himself, probably eating a minimum of 25 oysters (at least he didn’t try and go for the gluttony of the Romans or we might have needed to find him a vomitorium). This is before the cheese and charcuteries (like deli meats) with bread, fresh tomatoes and fruit tarts for dessert. Others had friends take pictures and video clips of their oyster tasting, complete with the slurping and twisted faces pulled while swallowing. I opted out of the photo opportunity.
In typical fashion, the tarte aux pommes was my favorite though I enjoyed the tomatoes greatly, taking far more than my share. The crust of the tart was flaky and the apples were crisp yet flavorful. I could have eaten many more of them, going through tartes like some went through oysters.
But I can now say that I have tried les huîtres, I am not lacking in my adventurousness with food. I would be willing to try them again, perhaps cooked this time. Baked or cooked in butter or maybe fried. I mean, Julia Child always felt that everything is better with butter so it must be true, right? Although, I don’t know if frying oysters is ok, it might be too undignified for such a delicacy. Perhaps I need to try eating them in the manner of the French, as explained by my French instructor the next day. Instead of chewing them as Americans assume needs to be done, they are swallowed whole, straight from the shell. On ne sait jamais, you never know, maybe it is better that way. However now that oysters have been tried I think that I can move on through my list of very French foods. Snails seem like a good step after oysters. We’ll see what shows up on the menus.

again, pictures to follow once I have better access to the internet!