What do oysters taste like? This is quite difficult to describe. But it makes sense to try them. For some, one time is not enough to taste it, but someone immediately joins the gourmets.

You will need:

Let's get acquainted - oyster!

There are more than 50 types of mollusks in the world. All of them are divided into 2 types:

1. Crassostrea (deep);
2. Ostrea (flat).

Of course, a person does not feast on everyone. Those who go to gourmet menu, inhabit the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans.

Best Views:

Belon

Most Popular. They have an iodine taste. For an amateur.

Gilardo

Derived variety. Taste qualities do not change throughout the year. Oily. Not too salty.

Royal

Large. They are considered the most delicious. Suitable for preparing the main dish, because they are very meaty.

White pearls

A little sweet. Soft. With milky taste.

Sakhalin

Huge sizes. Fatty. Iodine is concentrated. The meat is too fatty. Not very salty. These oysters are eaten raw.

Australian

Non-greasy. Small sizes. Lungs. Delicate.

Oysters live in salt water. And interestingly, the quality and size of the mollusks depends on its concentration. The most ideal is to have about 30 ppm in the water. If this figure is exceeded, then they will quickly grow to giant sizes with tough meat inside.

Established classification by size. They increase from 5 to 0. Zero mollusks can weigh more than 120 grams, ones - from 100 grams, deuces - from 75.

Especially giant bivalves are grown by the French. And sent to gourmet tables.

These are creatures without a specific gender. They can change their sex with the seasons. If in the first breeding season oysters function as males, then in the next they function as females.

When is the best time to use

All year round. Previously, it was believed that in the summer these mollusks are unsuitable for serving. There was even a belief that they should not be eaten when the letter r is not found in the name of the month. Just all summer and fell under this rule.

Why did they say so? oyster in summer heat more difficult to bring to the table unspoiled. But now there are refrigerators, there are no transport problems.

It just needs to be stored at temperatures up to 3º C. Existing in it nutrients will not spoil up to 10 days.

Yes, and mollusks breed in the summer. During this period, there is milk in the sink. She could add bitterness to oyster meat. Today, on farms, this process can be time-shifted or completely eliminated.

The taste will not depend on the time of year. Since wild clams are already rare, farmers are able to track their growth. The surrounding salty water is also under control.

By the way, three-year-old oysters most often end up on the table. Therefore, they definitely lived through a couple of seasons of hot summer.

It is impossible to do without exceptions among mollusks. This is a very refined belon variety. The only place where it grows is Brittany. And there in the summer, with an increase in sea temperature, the water blooms intensely. Then unpleasant pieces of blooming algae can get into these “cream” among oysters. In this case, the necessary share of refined taste is gone.

How many oysters in an average serving

Such clams are served either by 6 (half a dozen) or 12 pieces (dozen). They are not weighed in grams or otherwise.

There is also classic serve. Oysters are brought on a platter filled with ice.

In the center lie slices of lemons that surround the shells.

The drink should not interrupt the taste of oysters. Only light accompaniment and underlining.

Most often, with shellfish, it is generally worth giving up alcohol. But if you decide to combine this dish with wine, then champagne or white will be in place. Champagne "Brut". The wine is dry.

If you eat oysters in a restaurant, ask the sommelier for advice. He will offer suitable drink from the wines that are available.

The Irish serve shellfish with a cocktail of champagne and dark beer.

Time to start eating

While we say that the right-handed person will eat oysters.

• With the left hand, we take the clam from the dish. We turn sharp end to yourself. The knife, as usual, is taken with the right hand. With a blade, without undue effort, we open the sashes.
• The oyster is open. A thin, almost transparent film becomes visible. It is cut into a circular knife. We remove it, picking it up, and put it on our plate, to the very edge.
• Now it's time to take a slice of lemon. From it we will squeeze the juice onto the oyster. A couple of drops will be enough.

The oyster will cringe from this.

By the way, this is how you can check whether this mollusk is really alive, as stated in the menu. If there is no reaction, then the oyster is already dead. We return the entire dish to the kitchen.

Now carefully suck out the oyster. No disgusting squelching and loud noises.

You can do it differently.

• Take a fork (special) and hook the oyster.
• Before eating it, place it in a vinegar-based sauce for a couple of seconds.

I don't use this very often. sea ​​food And to a greater extent for entertainment, and not in order to eat tightly. But somehow I even visited where, in general, there were only food " sea ​​reptiles". Left hungry ...

Here's how to eat oysters...

Now science knows about 50 species of oysters (lat. Ostreidae) - mollusks from the bivalve family. Most of them live in relatively warm seas. However, several species of oysters are known to live in the cool waters of the northern seas. Oysters can live both in colonies and singly. Their settlements can be found at a depth of 1 to 70 m, both close to the coast and at a considerable distance from it (oyster banks). Oysters can exist in sea ​​water varying degrees salinity (minimum - 12 ppm). The degree of salinity of the water affects the growth time of oysters and taste qualities their meat. The best are mollusks that have developed and collected at a water salinity of 20-30 ppm. If the water is saltier (about 35 ppm) - oysters grow quickly, but their meat becomes tough.

The main commercial species is the edible oyster (lat. Ostrea edulis). They can be found off the coast of Europe, in the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean. Edible oysters are rocky (O. sublamellosa), Black Sea (O. taurica), Adriatic (O. adriatica), Portuguese (Crassostrea angulata). In addition, "giant" oysters (Crassostrea gigas) are known - they are now the so-called "basic" breed of oysters grown off the coast of France. Oysters in the shape of the shell are flat and concave. The latter are the most popular in Europe today. Although flat oysters are also not forgotten.

There is also a classification of oysters by size. These clams come in sizes #00, #0, #1, #2 and up to #5. Oysters #00 are the largest. In addition, they are distinguished by the method of cultivation. There are oysters of the "full sea" - those that were born and grew in the sea before being caught. And there are also known oysters "refined" - ennobled, which spent part of their lives in "greenhouse" conditions created by man.

Next, let's focus on the rules for eating oysters. A classic is to serve oysters on an ice tray, laid out in a circle, for example, with lemon slices in the center. The number of oysters must be a multiple of six. Usually it is a dozen (12 pieces) or half a dozen (6 pieces). But options are possible: a lot depends on the size of the oysters, the size of the dish or tray, the number of participants in the meal. Wine for oysters is always served white, dry. It can also be brut champagne. Neither wine nor champagne should be too expensive - their task is to emphasize the taste of oysters.

Admire the blissful picture? Now it's time to destroy the oyster-ice beauty. Take the clam with your left hand, turn it towards you with a pointed end. In your right hand you should have a special knife, which should always be served with oysters. Insert it between the doors and push them apart. In the middle of the sink you will see a film, it must be removed. Carefully, in a circle, cut it with the same knife, pry it off and put it on the edge of the plate. Next - put down the knife, take a slice of lemon and squeeze the juice directly into the sink with your fingers. By the way, this is done not only “for taste”.

The tradition originated at a time when oysters were still transported in tubs or barrels, and not in special chambers, transport was slow, and clams could spoil on the way. If, when lemon juice hits an oyster, it shrinks, it is still alive and can be eaten. If nothing happens - the oyster is dead, you do not need to eat it. Actually, even now this method of determining the freshness of oysters can come in handy. You can also season the oyster with freshly ground black pepper, dip in vinegar sauce seasoned with shallots. Seasoned? And now, quietly, without smacking your lips, suck out the contents of the sink with your mouth. That, in fact, is the whole simple science of eating oysters.

By the way, in restaurants, so that customers do not bother themselves, in order to avoid funny and not very incidents, oysters, as a rule, are served already open, with a clipped “attachment” muscle. So just squirt lemon juice and put the oyster in your mouth, for even more convenience, a special two-pronged oyster fork can be served.

If oysters are served cooked (and you can cook a lot of things from them), then they are eaten only with cutlery. Cold oysters are dessert cutlery, and warm or hot oysters are tableware.

There is a widespread belief that oysters should only be eaten in months whose names contain the letter "r" (September to April). In fact, it is so and not so at the same time. The fact is that at one time in France, in order to avoid uncontrolled fishing of oysters, which threatened their extinction, a law was passed prohibiting the fishing of mollusks during their breeding season. And oysters breed from the end of spring, during the summer.

In addition, during reproduction, the oyster produces milk inside the shell. When opened, it pours out, giving the meat a bitter taste. However, technologies for breeding oysters are already known, using which mollusks do not reproduce. Specialists have also learned to shift the breeding season of oysters by several months, so that in summer they still do not taste bitter. And in general - when it's summer in Europe, in Australia, for example, it's winter - local oysters don't even think about breeding.

Speaking of oysters, one cannot but recall Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. He has a whole story, which is called: "Oysters." It is the famous writer who, perhaps, can be considered the author of the legend that oysters squeak when they are poured with lemon juice before being eaten (in reality, nothing like this happens, of course). Here is what he writes in his work:

“So that’s what oysters mean! I imagine an animal that looks like a frog. The frog sits in the shell, looks out from there with big shining eyes and plays with its disgusting jaws. I imagine how this animal is brought from the market in a shell, with claws, shining eyes and with slimy skin ... The children are all hiding, and the cook, grimacing in disgust, takes the animal by the claw, puts it on a plate and carries it to the dining room. Adults take it and eat it ... eat it alive, with eyes, teeth, paws! And it squeaks and tries to bite the lip ... ".

Well, is everything right? Or are you not eating right?

sources

How to eat oysters?

Oysters are not only traditional delicacy in a French restaurant: do at least gourmet dish of which, if desired, you can also at home. However, most often, live or frozen oysters are simply eaten in pure form. Let's take a closer look at how to eat oysters correctly. First, let's talk about how to choose them, because if you buy stale oysters, you can get very sick.

Selecting and preparing oysters

Choose undamaged oysters whose shells are tightly closed. You can also find fresh oysters without shells. All such oysters should be plump, of the same size and in a clear liquid.

Live oysters should be put on ice, covered with a towel and stored in the refrigerator. Shelf life - no more than five days. Oysters without shells can be kept in a container with a salt solution for no more than a day. Prepare a solution in a ratio of 0.5 tsp. salt to one cup of water. However, whenever possible, oysters are best eaten immediately after purchase.

Wash oyster shells under running water before use. running water using a hard brush. Oysters should be opened right before eating or cooking. Oysters with already damaged or open shells are best disposed of.

How to eat oysters: instructions

To eat an oyster, it must be opened correctly. Do not forget to check the freshness of the oyster:

• If the oyster is fresh, then the open shell should tend to slam shut.
• Also, a fresh oyster reacts to acid. After opening an oyster, it is customary to drip a little lemon juice into it for taste. Watch how the oyster reacts to it. live oyster slightly wrinkled with acid.
• In addition to the body of the oyster, there is also a special liquid inside. In stale oysters, it flows out, and by weight such oysters seem lighter than fresh ones.

If you suspect that the oysters are not fresh, it is better not to eat them.

How to open an oyster

Frozen oysters are cooked immediately after thawing. You can cook them, but not longer than a minute. Frozen oysters lose some of their useful properties, but do not lose their taste.

Oyster- this is one of the many seafood that belongs to the family sea ​​shellfish. There is no person who has not heard about the use of oysters in cooking. Oysters can be eaten not only in restaurants and cafes, they can also be cooked at home, as there is a large number of all kinds of recipes for their preparation.

If we talk about where oysters are found, then the seas in the tropics are considered their habitat. Oysters don't like too much salt water, so sometimes they can be seen in rivers.

As for the offspring, oysters spawn, and they begin to do so in the spring. The spawning period can last up to six months, ending by the end of the summer period. For favorable spawning, oysters need quite warm water. The most interesting thing is that the eggs remain in the oyster until they are fertilized and hatch. Thus, already born molluscs come out of the shell, which move around the reservoir until they find a suitable place to attach to it and begin their life.

The most valuable and high-quality at the moment are Norwegian oysters, which are collected in natural Norwegian reservoirs. Also on the market you can find oysters from other countries: Japan, USA, South Korea and others.

When choosing oysters, you should pay attention to their freshness. Fresh oysters should have a solid color. Their sashes must fit snugly against each other, without even the smallest crack (see photo). If you notice a small gap between the shells, this means that the oyster is stale, and it is better not to use such clams as food, otherwise you can get serious poisoning.

Types of oysters

About fifty are known today. various kinds oysters, most of of which are edible. Formally, all types of oysters are divided into two types: flat and deep.

The flattened appearance of oysters includes four separate varieties of clams that differ in taste, appearance and market value. The flat type of oysters includes the following varieties:

• The most prized flat oysters by gourmets are Marin Oleron. They have a very delicate texture, rich taste and amazing aftertaste. They are the most popular representatives of this type of oyster.
• Belon- Another variety of flat oysters, which is collected in the French province. It differs from its relatives in appearance, color in light gray tones, and also has a rather pungent smell.
• Bouzigues- a type of flat oyster that is found only in the Mediterranean Sea. They differ from other types of oysters in that they give off a spicy aroma when eaten, and they also have a pronounced salty flavor.
• Yellow-green shell and small size characterize the type of oyster called Gravette. Unlike their relatives, this species molluscs, although not large in size, but has a very fleshy body.

Deep oysters are collected mainly only within Pacific Ocean. This type of oyster is usually divided into two categories: exquisite and special. Gourmets have a slightly smaller volume of juice and meat than specials, which differ significantly in price.

This type of oyster is usually grown in special tanks, which are filled with special algae. Keeping oysters in such tanks improves the quality of the oyster. The deep oyster species includes five varieties:

• Most high content fat content and a slight salty aftertaste characterizes oysters fin de clair. They are kept in tanks and supplied with algae as additional source nutrition.
• Oysters that have larger size, and also contain more meat, are called Special. This variety of oysters is kept in tanks for up to two months to saturate the oyster with the necessary elements.
• Blue Oyster differs in a specific color, which is achieved by keeping mollusks in a special aquarium, which includes blue clay. Thanks to her, this type of oyster contains great amount beneficial trace elements.
• Croesus is an Irish type of oyster characterized by high fat content And great content meat.
• Oysters, which differ from their counterparts in a rather elegant shell shape, as well as a sweetish pleasant aftertaste, and the smell of iodine, are called White pearls.

The maximum known size of this type of oyster reaches 50 centimeters. But such individuals are very rare. On average, the size of deep oysters varies between 5-20 centimeters.

Those who have come across oysters know that opening them is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. First of all, it is necessary to clarify that in no case should you open oysters with hammers or any other objects that can injure the shell, otherwise you can spoil the taste of the oyster.

To properly open an oyster, you need to arm yourself with a small sharp knife, and even better with a scalpel, and gently draw along the line of connection of the shell valves. In this way, the muscles of the mollusk are cut, which hold the shell back, so that you can open it.

If you decide to visit french restaurant then you should definitely try the oysters! If you don't know how to eat them properly, don't worry! We will enlighten you on this matter.

To begin with, I would like to note that if you decide to cook and taste oysters at home, then they are served on a tray in an amount that is a multiple of six. Also on the tray should be slices fresh lemon to add a touch of sophistication to the dish. Oysters should definitely be served with white wine, since only in combination with this drink can oysters reveal their full taste.

If you're going to be eating oysters in a restaurant, the first thing you need to do is make sure the oyster is fresh. Determining this is very simple: the shell flaps must be closed. As a last resort, they open right in front of visitors to showcase the freshness of the oyster. Do not order and do not use open oysters as they may be damaged.

And it is very simple to eat oysters correctly: take an open oyster shell in your left hand, and a two-pronged fork in your right hand, which is designed for this purpose. The tines of the fork should be brought under the body of the mollusk, and then carefully removed from the shell with gentle movements. The oyster can be dipped in the oyster sauce that is being served, or it can be applied directly to the clams while they are still in the shell. It is also customary to sprinkle the oyster meat with lemon juice before eating.

You can't chew an oyster. It is swallowed in one motion, and then washed down with white wine. It is also not customary to drink the liquid from the shell of oysters. There may be sand if the oyster was caught during a storm.

cooking secrets

To learn how to properly cook oysters, it should be clarified that you need to buy only fresh oysters with tightly closed shells.

If you already have fresh raw oysters on hand, then you can start cooking. There are many recipes for oysters. They can be added to salads, served as a separate appetizer, supplemented with other dishes.

Most often, the baking method is used to prepare oysters: due to the content of juice in the shell, the oyster is baked in it, after which it is served at the table. Before baking, the sink must be cleaned of dirt and algae! Also, for the preparation of oysters, the method of stewing in the sink and without it is used.

Especially enterprising people can boil and fry oyster meat, but this is not entirely correct. It is best to cook oysters by baking, adding fragrant spices taste.

Beneficial features

IN useful properties oysters no doubt. Like most of all seafood, oysters have a beneficial effect on human body helping him to strengthen immune system and even get rid of some diseases. So, oyster meat has a good tonic effect, and also, due to the content of various amino acids in it, it can neutralize the development cancerous tumors. Also oysters able to enhance sexual desire, being one of the best aphrodisiacs.

Harm of oysters and contraindications

The harm of oysters is rather doubtful. Oysters can only harm people who are allergic to them and seafood in general. There are very few contraindications for oysters: it is not recommended to use them only for people with allergies, as well as for pregnant women in the last stages of pregnancy. Also, oysters can be harmful if they are stale.

Compound

The composition of oysters can be envied by most seafood. Oyster meat contains elements such as proteins, fats, glycogen carbohydrates, as well as a large amount of vitamins, in particular, there are a lot of B vitamins in them.

Concerning minerals, then oysters contain iodine, potassium, calcium, zinc, phosphorus, iron and copper. However, the amount of content useful minerals in oysters is so high that six oysters will be enough to replenish the daily supply of minerals for the body.

Among other things, oysters contain amino acids and saturated fatty acids, such as omega-3, which, when regular use can positively influence the immune system, as well as fight the growth and spread of cancer cells.

Oysters and mussels: differences

Most clams with shells are very similar to each other, and oysters with mussels are no exception. Many people ask: "What is the difference between oysters and mussels?". In fact, everything is very simple:

Among other things, oysters and mussels vary greatly in price. Mussels are quite rightly called oysters for the poor. But if we discard all the shortcomings, then the composition of mussels is practically no different from the composition of oysters.