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The key is to make sure your raw ingredients are as good as they can possibly be. As Julia explained: “Turn them over and you know they’re finished – saves you the disappointment of pulling up an empty.And once you do open them, they can go bad in about an hour, so wastage can be a concern for the domestic god or goddess looking to deliver an impressive dish to the dinner table.ĭespite the fuss and bother we’ve mentioned, they are a savored delicacy that is immensely popular all over the world.Īpart from perhaps Raw Oysters or Oysters Rockefeller, Oyster Mignonette is one of the most famous oyster dishes out there and it is surprisingly easy to make at home. Shells went back to the tray upside down and with good reason. After Julia had gotten every little bit of juice from the oyster, she’d return the shell to the tray with the kind of triumphant clack you’d make if you were laying down a winning domino.
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Two of the three drained off the liquor all three topped their oysters with salt, pepper, Tabasco and lime (I wonder if they’re on to something with the lime – I want to try it) and they each chased them with something different: one drank Coke, one had a cocktail that looked like a sunset over the Florida Keys and the last man drank a Corona.Įveryone seemed happy but, even though portraits of Julia Child, a true oyster fan, were hung in the bar, no one finished their oysters the way Julia used to. He worked his way clockwise through the oysters, methodically draining each one of its juice, even shaking the shells a few times to make sure they were dry, carefully concocting a mix of cocktail sauce and Tabasco, then quickly eating the oysters and washing each one down with a single gulp of Coke.Īcross the bar from him, three twenty-something guys from Mexico were attacking their big platter of oysters with great relish. When my lunch was finished (alas), I turned and saw a guy with a NY Yankees cap just starting on his platter. “They are so good, you shouldn’t miss them,” is what he said as he scraped.
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MINUET SAUCE FOR OYSTERS HOW TO
Jacques, the all-knowing maitre d’hotel at Le Dome in Paris, who saw those nubbins in my shells one night and came over to show me how to liberate them. So there I was eating the meat of my oysters with a fork, slurping the oyster juice straight from the source, and using my knife to scrape up any little piece of the muscle that might have been left in the shell. Even frozen and flaked I don’t want it near my oysters, but there’s no denying that mignonette granite is a brilliant idea. It’s tart, really, really tart, and because it’s so puckery I’ve never gotten why it should be good with oysters, but it certainly has its fans.Īt Shaw’s, where the oysters are exceptional, they’re served with lemon wedges, a cup of cocktail sauce with a dollop of horseradish at its center, and a cup of mignonette sauce that’s been turned into a granite. Mignonette is a mixture of Champagne vinegar, minced shallot and coarsely ground black pepper. Sometimes there’ll be a mignonette sauce as well. This is the way oysters are often served in Paris, where the accompaniment of choice is dark bread and salted butter.
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