Oysters on a half shell

Written by Becky


I tried oysters for the first time and loved them. We tried them with some dear friends who have been the ones to introduce us to many new foods. Here are a few of the other foods we’ve had the joy to try with them: mussels, duck confit, foie gras, and hanger steak. Our friends know that we will try anything so we always end up having an adventurous meal with them.

First you want to open all of your oysters. Our friend Tom patiently showed me how to open them. You can take an oyster cracker or a small screw driver and dig the edge into where the two sides of the shell meet. One hand should be on top of the oyster. You want to make sure and cover your hand that is on top of the oyster so that you don’t cut your hand because you have to pry pretty hard to get them open. Once the edge of your cracker is inside the shell, twist it and the shell should pry open. For more instructions on how to open an oyster click here.



I must say that although I enjoyed the mystique of the actual oyster, the key for me was in the sauces we had to go with them. Josh and I are both big sauce fans. It just seems like sauces make every meal just that much better. Like the sauces we had recently with fish tacos. I helped make the sauced and had never seen raw the actual horseradish plant before. You can see if pictured above and it almost looks like a ginger root. You can use a zester to shred the horseradish. For the second sauce, the key is a quality white wine vinegar since it is a simple sauce. I highly recommend the Unio brand from Tony Caputo’s. Here are the two sauces that we had with our oysters, both are excellent and could me used with different types of seafood if you’re not an oyster fan.

Classic Cocktail Sauce
catsup (fill up half of sauce dish)
horseradish (1-2 TB shredded)
vinegar (fill up half of sauce dish

Wine Vinegar Sauce
White wine vinegar (fill up small sauce dish)
diced red onion 1-2 TB
touch of salt
a few grinds of black pepper
*the key to this sauce is a quality Wine Vinegar and I highly recommend the Unio brand of Moscatel White Wine Vinegar from Tony Caputos pictured above

Comments (4)

  1. I have never tried oysters and must admit… they creep me out. Ha. Maybe I will get daring one of these days.

  2. I'm with Tiff. I've never tried making them either, but I could get brave. . . My dad's favorite Sunday supper on a winter evening was oyster stew, but I haven't had that in years. I could attempt that.

  3. okay…this is going to sound really lame. but read your post title to the tune of "Turtles in a Half Shell…." (teenage mutant ninja turtles)

    anyway, now that that's out. I want to try oysters. just waiting for the right moment. glad you got to experience them!

  4. Becky, I actually think the same tune when anyone says Oysters on a half shell. So funny!

    Tiff and Cristie, I think you both should try Oyster! If I can do it so can you as my foodie mentors 🙂