toledoblade.com --

Oysters may be an acquired taste. The bivalve with the hard, rough, gray shell contains a meat that varies in color from creamy beige to pale gray, with flavors that can range from salty to bland and a texture that can be tender or firm depending on the variety.

I am no connoisseur of oysters, but in recent years I've discovered these can be delicious little morsels depending on how they are prepared.

When I was in New Orleans in October at a reception and dinner for food journalists at Chef John Besh's August restaurant, a passed appetizer was fried oysters garnished with a bit of caviar served on a porcelain spoon. These were delicately fried, and just one mouthful melted in my mouth.

I liked it so much that I asked for a second little spoon.

A couple of days later at a cooking demonstration at the New Orleans Cooking Experience located at the 1790s Creole Plantation House on Bayou Road, oyster dressing was featured.

Now oyster dressing is an annual dish on our family's Midwest Thanksgiving table, but I was most eager to compare the recipe of Chiqui Collier. The native New Orleans resident said oyster dressing is a New Orleans tradition.

The catering company owner adds garlic, olive oil, thyme, and a few drops of Kitchen Bouquet, and uses cubed po-boy French bread. She cuts up the oysters and fries the dressing for five minutes before she bakes it. My recipe uses butter, freshly dried sage from my yard and whole oysters, and isn't fried before baking.

Chef Tim Smith shucks oysters.

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From the Hermann-Grima House, an 1830s historic home in the French Quarter, comes the recipe for Mrs. Coolidge's Oyster Soup. It's a Thanksgiving classic too, and similar to the recipe I've used at home.

Behind the courtyard of the historic house, there's a gate that leads to the patio of Broussard's Restaurant & Courtyard, where contemporary Creole cuisine is featured. Oysters on the half-shell were plentiful at lunch, which also included chicken andouille gumbo and shrimp florentine.

Oysters on the half shell are said to be best in the fall and winter because they spawn during the summer months and become soft and fatty, according to the Food Lover's Companion.

Drago's Charbroiled Oysters is the perfect dish for those who want to enjoy oysters but can't or won't eat them raw. You need freshly shucked oysters and an outdoor grill for this recipe from Drago's Restaurants at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside and in Metairie, La.

Oysters also can be scalloped or made into fritters, which is popular on the East Coast and Middle Atlantic Region. A recipe from The American Lighthouse Cookbook by Becky Sue Epstein and Ed Jackson (Cumberland House, $26.99) is on Page 8.

Oysters sold locally

Here in the Midwest, we know our oysters, too.

A few weeks ago, Chef Tim Smith of Real Seafood held a oyster and beer dinner for 40. He featured four oyster varieties, three of which are available now on the raw bar at the Docks restaurant: depurated Blue Point, Malpeque, Duxbury Pearl, and Quilcene oysters. The restaurant gets its seafood through purveyor Steve Connolly in Boston.

"Oysters are a living thing. Every one is different," he says.

The depurated Blue Point oysters are harvested in Long Island Sound and imported to Maine. They are microbiologically cleansed, washed, and desanded at a purification facility. "This is the most popular oyster," said the chef.

Malpeque oysters are from the rich waters of northwestern Prince Edward Island. Duxbury Pearl oysters are raised
in Duxbury, Mass., in the western Duxbury Bay, which is directly fed by Cape Cod Bay. The thickening and hardening of the shells makes the oysters easier to shuck. "There's a deep cup and the meats are fuller," said the chef. The Quilcene oyster, which was ordered just for the dinner, is from the cold waters of Washington State's Quilcene Bay.

Chef Tim demonstrated how to slip the oyster knife into a little gap that exists between the top and the bottom shell. Then he lifts up the tip of the knife to open the shell and scrapes the shucking knife across the bottom to loosen the oyster so it nestles in the shell. The half-shell oysters are placed on ice and then served with cocktail sauce, oyster dipping sauce - a vinaigrette - and a squeeze of lemon. The combination of the three "makes the flavor explode," says the chef.

Don't buy or use oysters that don't have a tightly closed shell.

Many people do not eat raw oysters due to health concerns. But if you do consume oysters, there are many ways to cook them. Smaller oysters are younger and more tender. Fresh shucked oysters should be plump, uniform in size, have good color, a fresh smell and a clear, not cloudy, liquor.

At area stores such as Walt Churchill's Supermarkets, shucked select Chesapeake Bay oysters are sold by the pound, as well as Blue Point oysters in the shell from Long Island Sound. Closer to the holidays, there will be half pints and pints of select and standard oysters sold.

At Rohr Fish, Blue Point oysters from Chesapeake Bay are sold by the dozen as well as shucked oysters by the pint or quart.

Contact Kathie Smith at:
food@theblade.com
or 419-724-6155.