“If you don't love life you can't enjoy an oyster; there is a shock of freshness to it and intimations of the ages of man, some piercing intuition of the sea and all its weeds and breezes. [They] shiver you for a split second.”
Eleanor Clark
Moving to Colorado after living on or near the coast for most of my life was different in many ways but the thing I miss the most is the accessibility to great seafood. We regularly ate fresh seafood three or four times a week without thinking much about how lucky we were.One of our favorites was fresh grilled oysters cooked over hot coals for just a few minutes or until they just opened with a squeeze of lemon and a dash of hot sauce. But there was also oyster stew at Christmas time, and oysters Rockefeller or on the half shell for dinner parties, oyster poor boys at Mardi Gras and oysters Casino. At the catering company customers often requested grand displays of shellfish and smoked fish and although we made sure to keep it at the proper temperature, I didn't think much about oyster safety or people who might be at risk when eating fresh shellfish.
Louisiana seafood is addressing this issue with their campaign for Gulf oysters. Not only have they created this important food safety campaign they but their website also has a recipe book you can download for FREE including Oyster Pizza, Oyster Kabobs, Oyster Dip, Oyster Quiche and many more.
Their slogan is a good one for any type of food safety; Be Informed. Be Cautious. Be Smart. Be Sure. So enjoy your Gulf oysters grilled, deep-fried in a Poor boy, or on the half shell but if you're an at-risk individual step away from the oysters on the half shell. You can still enjoy them fully cooked and what's not to love about deep-fried oysters? If you're not an at-risk individual enjoy them any way you like.
