Cilantro and Oysters - a furtive, but delicious, love match
Oysters. Succulent creatures meant to be consumed hot or cold with a variety of condiments on top. Neptune's little platters of goodness, delivered to prove to us that Neptune does love us and only wishes to spread good will with his giant trident.
I first discovered the joys of oyster slurping after I moved up to the Pacific Northwest and was taken by a male friend to a Seafood Grill in Pioneer Square. Cocktail sauce glimmered on one and a red wine vinaigrette on the other. I knew anything that held condiments so lovingly could not be bad, but my mouth needed more convincing. I slurped the first oyster toward me, suctioning off the bulk of the sauce, then inadvertently spitting the oyster across the table at my companion. Luckily, he was a Microsoft employee and not well-dressed. I have since learned to inhale a dozen with the best of them. I can close my eyes and still see a beautiful platter of crushed ice, twelve oysters in a circle and little shiny cups of sauce. Wedges of lemon always standing by to be of service.
These days, we've been advised against eating raw oysters from Washington due to one of those nasty bacteria that proliferate in hot weather: bad oysters.
This weekend, Mr. Mustard, Baby Balsamic and myself attended an annual Oyster barbeque given by the deliriously talented folks of theater simple. Every year for the past fifteen years, they've fired up the grill and barbequed dozens and dozens and dozens of oysters for friends, family and no-good theater-types who show up with their adorable children trained to dance like monkeys for free food. My favorite moment is always when I first arrive and I approach the barbeque to see what saucy goodies they've created to cook onto the oysters. There's usually a garlic butter, a barbeque sauce, and this year, my favoritest ever, a cilantro/lime juice/ginger concoction that still gives me the distant shivers.
Cilantro. You either love or hate this flavor. I, obviously, happen to love it. And I especially love it with lime juice (like in freshly made salsa. Yum.) And the ginger gave it an exotic undertone that turned the oyster into a portal to the far east. I asked the intrepid grill-meister, Andrew, how he made it and he pretty much gave me the usual, secret recipe song and dance: "Oh, I just put lime juice over some cilantro. Then add ginger."
Uh-huh.
Well, my new mission is to recreate this sauce and to try it on a variety of sea creatures. I won't rest until I can call this sauce my own.
Condiment Grrl
I first discovered the joys of oyster slurping after I moved up to the Pacific Northwest and was taken by a male friend to a Seafood Grill in Pioneer Square. Cocktail sauce glimmered on one and a red wine vinaigrette on the other. I knew anything that held condiments so lovingly could not be bad, but my mouth needed more convincing. I slurped the first oyster toward me, suctioning off the bulk of the sauce, then inadvertently spitting the oyster across the table at my companion. Luckily, he was a Microsoft employee and not well-dressed. I have since learned to inhale a dozen with the best of them. I can close my eyes and still see a beautiful platter of crushed ice, twelve oysters in a circle and little shiny cups of sauce. Wedges of lemon always standing by to be of service.
These days, we've been advised against eating raw oysters from Washington due to one of those nasty bacteria that proliferate in hot weather: bad oysters.
This weekend, Mr. Mustard, Baby Balsamic and myself attended an annual Oyster barbeque given by the deliriously talented folks of theater simple. Every year for the past fifteen years, they've fired up the grill and barbequed dozens and dozens and dozens of oysters for friends, family and no-good theater-types who show up with their adorable children trained to dance like monkeys for free food. My favorite moment is always when I first arrive and I approach the barbeque to see what saucy goodies they've created to cook onto the oysters. There's usually a garlic butter, a barbeque sauce, and this year, my favoritest ever, a cilantro/lime juice/ginger concoction that still gives me the distant shivers.
Cilantro. You either love or hate this flavor. I, obviously, happen to love it. And I especially love it with lime juice (like in freshly made salsa. Yum.) And the ginger gave it an exotic undertone that turned the oyster into a portal to the far east. I asked the intrepid grill-meister, Andrew, how he made it and he pretty much gave me the usual, secret recipe song and dance: "Oh, I just put lime juice over some cilantro. Then add ginger."
Uh-huh.
Well, my new mission is to recreate this sauce and to try it on a variety of sea creatures. I won't rest until I can call this sauce my own.
Condiment Grrl
posted by CondimentGrrl at 10:37 PM
2 Comments:
Ah, it's not really a blog until you've received your first "Make Thousands of $$ from home, while prancing around in your bathrobe!" ad in the comment section.
And I naturally distrust people who claim to dislike cilantro...
Okay, now they're just getting pushy!
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