Noirmoutier Oysters

Name: Noirmoutier Oysters
Prep time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: sourdough bread, finely sliced; Tabasco; seaweed or crushed ice, to garnish; 1 lemon, cut into wedges; freshly ground black pepper; 2 shallots, peeled and very finely diced; 24 Brittany or Vendée oysters; 3 tbsp red wine vinegar

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
30 min

Appears in

The French Kitchen

By Joanne Harris and Fran Warde

Published 2002

About

Some recipes use cooked oysters, but much more usual is to eat them raw, with nothing but a little lemon juice or shallot vinegar, a glass of Muscadet and a view of the ocean.

Ingredients

2 shallots, peeled and very finely diced
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
24

Europe
France
Starter
Pescatarian
Mediterranean

Method

Mix the shallots and vinegar together in a small bowl. Shuck the oysters: place each oyster, rounded side down, in a cloth and hold with one hand. Insert an oyster knife at the narrow end of the oyster, between the two shells, and wiggle, keeping the blade flat. You may need some strength, but the shell will eventually give and open. Run the knife along the inside of the top shell to release th