Mary Lincoln Extra Credit Questions

[Jim Page]

(08-14-2015 07:41 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Do you also eat them raw (I know, in the US you also get them fried). If you get any here (at some gourmet meccas) they are served raw. I've never felt the need to try these.

I should now go into a routine like that guy in Forrest Gump did about how many ways shrimp can be served, but I won't!

Eva, I love raw oysters, usually on a saltine cracker and sprinkled with a mixture of lemon juice and Tabasco sauce. Recently, I've heard so much about the dangers of raw oysters that I've limited my intake to fried oysters and oyster stew. I also love them in Thanksgiving dressing, though my wife doesn't. She'll make a small pan especially for me with oysters in the dressing.

When I was a kid living in Apalachicola on the Florida Gulf Coast, that town was famous for its oysters. Probably still is. We'd buy raw oysters right off the boats in a big croaker sack for maybe $10. A croaker sack is made of coarse burlap and might hold 50 pounds of potatoes in its original use and holds a lot of oysters. We'd get our oyster knives--not real sharp, but with a very stiff 3" blade--and have ourselves a raw oyster feast. We'd also steam some over an open fire.

In parts of Florida, there are still enormous mounds of oyster shells created by prehistoric peoples, who evidently loved their oysters, too!!!

--Jim