Oysters

This page is for eating oysters raw. For the excellent but underrated grilling and roasting of oysters, please see the page on shellfish.

How to shuck an oyster

1. Fold a dish towel into a long, narrow “runway”

2. Place the oyster on the towel with the deep cup down and hinge pointing out in the direction of your dominant hand.

3. Place knife handle in center of your palm, cup your fingers around the handle.

4. Put tip of the knife into the hinge. If using a knife with a curved tip, the tip should be pointing upward.

5. Apply controlled pressure to get the tip of the knife slightly into the hinge.

6. Use the knife as a lever and push down to pop the ‘top’ shell off.

7. Insert knife into the oyster and twist knife to further separate the top shell from the bottom shell.

8. Place the knife flat under the top shell and above the bottom shell to separate the oyster from the top adductor muscle and shell.

9. Scrape the knife along the inside wall of the bottom shell to separate the oyster from the bottom shell adductor muscle.

10. Add a little lemon, a few drops of mignonette or some cocktail sauce (not endorsed by Fearless Fish) and slurp.

How to serve

• Oysters tip easily, and are best chilled, so a bed of crushed ice is the best way to serve

• To avoid oysters puddling in melted ice, use this tip from Cook’s Illustrated and put the ice over some sort of grate with a sheet pan underneath so the oysters remain suspended as the ice melts

• If you can’t get your hands on crushed ice, you can use crumpled-up tinfoil

How to eat

1. In the nude

2. Squeeze of lemon

3. This mignonette: Combine one finely chopped shallot, a half-cup of red wine vinegar, one teaspoon pepper and a tablespoon of finely chopped parsley

Oyster etiquette

When you are done, return the shell to the serving dish, placed upside down so that the outer shell is showing.

Who shouldn’t eat oysters

Oysters were the only seafood Stu wouldn’t let his wife eat during pregnancy due to the rare but dangerous Vibrio. Similar caution should apply for those who are immune-compromised.

What to taste for

Below are a few of our favorite oysters that we tend to have in the shop on a consistent basis. We choose oysters that are grown with a straight hinge and strong shell for easy shucking. We also look for good deep cups to ensure good liquor content. Check it out for the flavor profiles and info that describes why they taste how they do.

Rhode Island has two main types of oysters - those from South County salt ponds and those grown in Narragansett Bay. Broadly, oysters out of the Bay tend to be brinier with a sweeter finish and oysters from the pond tend to be less briny with a more umami finish.

An ideal raw bar appetizer would include a pond oyster, a bay oyster and a few raw littlenecks.

Check out Oysterology for more info on different kinds of oysters.