How to shuck and what to serve alongside raw oysters at home.
When Chef Luke Venner started out as a cook , one of the first stations he was put on wasoysters . “ It ’s by all odds intimidate , ” he say . “ You ’re handed a piece of raw shellfish and a sharp huitre knife . That ’s a big hill to climb . ”
Though his calling has taken him through a European - style apprenticeship , to job in Vail and Napa Valley , and roles as executive chef at BLT Pisces Shack andBLT Steakin New York City , he ’s come full circle and is once again serving huitre atElm Restaurantin New Canaan , Connecticut .
“ Now living so close to the ocean , my calf love with oyster has really train off , ” he says . “ I really conceive they ’re under - utilize . The first matter you think of is unsanded oyster on the halfshell . That ’s certainly a mainstay on our menu , but we ’ve done them broiled with a fennel impertinence , poach in butter with parsley oil , and on top of steamed halibut with herbs and white wine-colored . ”
Oysters with Green Apple and Yuzu Mignonette|Photo courtesy of Elm Restaurant
Part of the fascination with oysters , of course , is just how many dissimilar multifariousness you’re able to research and how much terroir can tempt flavor . Venner says he in person opt East Coast oyster from “ the cold , pristine waters ” further up into Maine and Canada .
How to shuck oysters
The case of huitre can also affect how difficult it is to shuck . Venner has found that Beausoleil oysters from New Brunswick and Wellfleet oyster from Massachusetts are improbably consistent and easy to work with .
“ If you get really tiny single , often you have to be a lot more frail , ” he explains . “ Some of the Nipponese varieties are peculiarly shaped or some East Coast ones have stretch eggshell , which incline to be unannealed . Varieties that we find are the most resilient are medium oysters with a cryptic cup , sturdy shell , and expert amount of surface region . ”
As for technique , he rede to start with a static , sportsmanlike work area . Then , trifold a kitchen towel so it acts almost like an gasbag , placing the huitre cup size down indoors . Next , find the flexible joint where the bivalve connects and that ’s where you want to insert your oyster knife .
“ The mistake mass make is to stab or cut the area , ” he says . “ But you may really hurt yourself if the tongue slips or you may go mightily through the hinge and bludgeon the belly of the oyster . It ’s more a spin of the articulatio radiocarpea and , once you establish contact lens , gently crook and you ’ll discover what sounds like a door curl opening . ”
At that point , the huitre is open , so you take your knife around the sharpness to the wide part of the shell to loosen it — and the flat , top shell can be removed .
How to garnish your oysters
There aremany originative waysto garnish and dress up raw oyster on the halfshell . Most people gravitate towards chill cocktail sauce , peradventure a duad of dashes of Crystal or Tabasco , or a sheer mignonette . But , Venner advises , simplicity is fundamental .
“ For me in person , I love just a twist of lemon , ” he articulate . “ The classical Gallic mignonette can be a little overpowering with a Brobdingnagian blast of ruby-red wine-coloured vinegar and chunky peppercorns . What we try on to do at the eatery is somewhere in between the two — using real nuanced ingredient to play up the huitre but still add a bit of complex flavor . ”
The mignonette that Elm serves alongside its signature in the raw oysters combine pressed apple juice , diced cucumbers , grated powdered ginger , yuzu juice , and rice wine vinegar .
“ I just want something kind of gentle , ” Venner enunciate . “ Elmer Leopold Rice wine acetum has less acidity and we tone that down even more with greenish apple succus . Yuzu adds a bit of smartness and the cucumbers pickle a bit in the sauce . It works really well . ”
How to make the apple and yuzu mignonette
Venner explains that his recipes “ are kind of like cocktails ” with simple proportion that you do n’t have to measure out perfectly . For this mignonette , you combine equal parts pressed apple succus to rice wine acetum , a twosome splashes of yuzu , grate a lilliputian fleck of ginger with a microplane or cheese grater , and then very finely cube the cucumbers .
“ This is swell for entertaining because it turn no matter when you make it , ” he say . “ It look skillful the first day because the cucumbers are this bright , vivacious gullible . But it will last for two weeks in the fridge , and the cucumber start to turn into short pickles that come out in your mouth as you eat the huitre . ”
The chef adds that serve raw huitre and a housemade mignonette is n’t something too complicated for an at - home dinner company and , more often than not , is a Brobdingnagian crowd pleaser .
“ the great unwashed are fascinated by oysters — the different names , places , shapes , and size , ” he sound out . “ They lecture about them now like they ’re chocolate or wine . I see people trying them for the first time or ordering them as an entree . Oysters are more pop than ever . ”
