Oyster dishes can be eye catching & tasty

The photo at the right was taken by my sister, Elsie Meaux, during her Louisiana Mardi Gras festivities last week in Washington D.C. When I asked her if it was a display or someone’s meal, she said it was served for two people, but others also shared in some of the delicacies.

The extravagant display reminded me of a recipe I shared in 2016. I haven’t cooked Oyster Spaghetti yet, pictured above, however it bears mentioning again. You can search Iberianet.com and find the recipe by Alex Patout. This is a reminder more for me than you.

Charbroiled oysters have become very popular in restaurants around Acadiana during the cold months of the year, although with aqua-farming oysters are now available throughout the year.

Previously, charbroiled oysters were a treat we gave ourselves during the annual trek into New Orleans for the Krewe of Iris parade, my sister is a member. Many of the women riding in Iris look forward to eating at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Drago’s Seafood Restaurant and Oyster Bar after the ride.

For anyone not familiar with the grilled seafood, the tasty meal requires French bread to sop up the garlic butter, perhaps as much the desired taste as the main oyster.

Now we can find them right here in the Teche Area. I’m not going to the Iris parade this year, but I can still have my charbroiled oysters. The recipe today lets us make them at home, too. If you visit Drago’s website, you can also order Drago’s Original Charbroiled Oysters Kit to ship anywhere.

With Tabassco or Other Sauces

Raw oysters are considered the only way to eat them by the true connoisseurs. Add a dash of Tabassco and drink up. Some establishments away from the coastal states have been known to serve them in shot glasses reinforcing the delicacy.

TheSpruce.com has a great selection of recipes for preparing oysters and gave me the understanding of what I first learned to enjoy as Oriental dishes with oyster sauce.

Oyster sauce is a thick, brown sauce with a sweet, salty and earthy flavor. Oyster sauce is a popular ingredient in Vietnamese, Thai and Cantonese cuisine. The thick, flavorful sauce is full of umami — a savoriness containing a high level of amino acid which gives any recipe it’s extra oomph.

Oyster sauce has a nice balance between sweet and salty with a rich, earthy undertone, thanks to the oyster reduction or extracts. The quality of oyster sauce will greatly affect the flavor. Lower quality oyster sauces may use artificial oyster flavoring, while top-notch oyster sauces use only real oyster reductions for flavoring.

Traditionally, oyster sauce is made by slowly simmering oysters in water until the juices caramelize into a thick, brown, intensely flavorful sauce, TheSpruce.com said.

Appetizing flavors and exotic presentations, isn’t that why we go out to dinner at fancy restaurants?

Oysters in Other Areas

Being from south Louisiana where oysters have been part of our cuisine since childhood made reading the BerkleyWellness.com website about shucking oysters quite entertaining. Yet, they had some simple suggestions you might enjoy.

• Broil crumb-coated shucked oysters, a good alternative to frying them.

• Poach shucked oysters in fish stock, or a mixture of water and lemon juice or wine. Flavor the liquid with herbs, if you like.

• Make an oyster stew with oysters, milk, and chives, onions or leeks. Toss in some boiled and cubed potatoes and some bacon crumbs if you like.

• Top oysters on the half shell with barbecue sauce and grill in the shell over high heat.

• Add precooked shucked oysters to an omelet.

• Bake oysters on the half shell topped with pesto or another favorite sauce.

• Stir shucked oysters into a risotto during the last few minutes of cooking.