7.16.2009

Obsessions, Pt. 3: Oysters

Skipped the market today, but it was so, so worth it. I met my dad for lunch, and while we had originally planned to go to Ella Dining Room, we ended up at McCormic and Schmick, because Ella had NO OYSTERS!

I'm pretty ignorant. (Ok, lamb and brussels sprouts in July was pretty bad.) I know that summer is the worst time of the year for fresh, raw oysters. But my dad and I had this strange empathetic craving for the bivalves.

On my end, it was brought on by watching the Food Network show, "The Best Thing I Ever Ate," or something to that effect. I generally don't enjoy Food Network shows (except that diners show and also "Unwrapped"), though I am a self-professed "Top Chef" junkie. One of my prized possessions is the Top Chef Cookbook, which one of my siblings gave me for my birthday last year.

Anyway, one of the celeb chefs said his obsession was raw oysters, which brings me, appropriately, to my first obsession: raw oysters.

I am by no shade of the word an aficionado. I am too young, for one thing (20 years old!!), and my palate is too undeveloped. I have also only had one variety: Marin oysters. Fitting, I know, since I have only eaten them in California and I'm trying to eat local, but still. When I read about Hama Hamas in the NY Times, my mouth starts to water at just the thought of something so exotic. To be honest, I think that's what appeals to me about oysters cultivated from distant lands: Puget Sound, the Gulf of Mexico, Japan...

Uncultured as I am, give me a bucket of oysters, a lemon, some horseradish, and Tabasco--and I promise I won't stop eating 'till I puke. For realsies.

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