I’m from New York City, my mother and grandmother were born in Rockville, Maryland. They always told me to never eat oysters in a month without an R (May, June, July, and August). Originally one of the most prolific oyster producing regions in the world, East coast water temperatures vary dramatically from winter to summer. I now live in Seattle, where water temperatures are always cold and people eat oysters year round, but I still hear that bit of folkloric advice from time to time even here. When it comes to food and folklore, I’ve found that folklore is usually spot on, which got me wondering if there’s more to this. My thinking was that it all had to do with modern refrigeration. Turns out the issue is more complex.

Last night I volunteered to do a bit of oyster shucking at an event for the Northwest Women’s Law Center. The oysters were provided by “Oyster Bill” Whitbeck, the market manager for Taylor Shellfish. Bill is one of the world’s leading authorities on oysters and co-author of The Joy of Oysters. Since we were about to shuck and serve 17 dozen oysters in July, I asked Bill about the whole “R” thing and offered my theory about water temperature. Bill smiled big and said “Oh that old wive’s tale! I get that question all the time.” He then went on to explain that, while refrigeration and water temperature used to be a part of the reason people didn’t eat oysters in the summer, the most important reason is because that’s when oysters spawn. In fact, a law was passed in 1762 in Connecticut prohibiting consumption during those months as a way of combatting the already declining oyster population. Today, it’s still important what type of oyster you choose to eat for each season. Last night we were shucking Pacific Oysters (crassostrea gigas) and Kumamoto (crassostrea skimea) Oysters.

Originally from the warmer waters of Japan, these two varieties are at just the right point in their breeding cycle (just before spawning) during the summer months here in Washington. During spawning, oysters use up much of their stored glycogen (a natural sugar) and lose their firmness. Still perfectly safe, they are just not as tasty. So, if you have been depriving yourself…stop it! Go get some oysters and enjoy! Do be sure to keep them very cold on ice. Also try my Yuzu Shiso Granita as a topping, it was very popular among our guests.

Oh and don’t forget the wine pairing! Jameson Fink, local wine steward and blogger at Sparkling Vouvray, brought a great set of whites for us to try. My favorite was an Austrian Grüner Veltliner.

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I’m a big Donna Brazile fan. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard she would be the guest speaker at a Washington Women Lawyers Awards Dinner that I was attending. Thanks to the swift shipping of Amazon.com, I had two copies of her book Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in America, a memoir of her life in politics, in my hands the next morning, ready for Tracy and I to have signed later that night.

As I introduced myself to Ms. Brazile, I said, “I’m actually not an attorney, I’m a food writer.” Clearly being a food lover herself (each chapter of her book is named after a New Orleans food), she flipped towards the back of the book and showed me her late mother Jean’s recipe for seafood gumbo.

“I’m talking gumbo with Donna Brazile!” I was screaming like a twelve-year-old inside my head.

There’s a lot of chopping and prepping involved in gumbo, so Jean would divvy up the tasks among her nine children. Who needs a Cuisinart when you have nine kids as your prep chefs! I bet they also made for some lickity split clean up too.

This last Saturday we hosted a dinner party and spent the afternoon making Jean’s gumbo. As Ms. Brazile recommends in Step 1 of her cooking instructions, “Pour yourself something cold…You’re about to cook with grease.” Out came the wine and the Dr. John.

Many shrimp, oysters, sausages, glasses of wine, and much stirring-and-browning-of-the-roux later, we dished up the gumbo sat down with our nine guests.

Then we raised our glasses and toasted the stirring up of America’s pot.

Damn, that gumbo was good.

Check The Politico for the complete recipe and instructions for Jean’s Seafood Gumbo.

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I love oysters on the half shell, but if they’re too big and briny they can kinda make me gag. But, the big ones are good for one thing: Oysters Rockefeller.

Oysters Rockefeller were created at the famous Antoine’s, owned by Antoine Alciatore, in New Orleans and were named after the richest man at the time, John D. Rockefeller. Antoine’s son, Jules, came up with the recipe when there was a shortage of escargot. While there are many versions of this dish the original recipe has never left the family vault, even former employees keep their lips sealed. They’ve been serving up their famous Oysters Rockefeller since 1899.

Oysters Rockefeller

The original recipe purportedly contains no spinach, but instead a bunch of fresh herbs and parsley. We also added a bit of Parmesan cheese to our version. I found this recipe after making our own spinach version:

• Two dozen fresh oysters on the half shell, oyster liquor reserved
• 4 springs flat-leaf Italian parsley
• 4 green onions
• A handful of fresh celery leaves
• 6 or more fresh tarragon leaves
• 6 or more fresh chervil leaves
• 1/2 cup dried fresh French bread crumbs, unseasoned
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (Rockefeller was rich and so are these!)
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• Tabasco, to taste
• 2 tablespoons Pernod
• Rock salt

Finely mince the parsley, green onions and the herbs. In a mortar, mix the herbs with the breadcrumbs, softened butter, and any remaining oyster liquor until you have a textured paste. Season to taste with salt, pepper, Tabasco and Pernod.

Spread about a 1/4 inch of rock salt in an oven-safe dish and set the oysters on top, making sure they’re level. The salt will help keep the oysters from sliding around and also make a pretty presentation. Spoon an equal amount of the herb butter paste on top of each oyster. Place on the middle rack under the broiler and broil until the edges of the oysters curl and the herb butter paste bubbles, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

I wonder what dish Warren Buffet would inspire?

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I worked as an Oyster Shucker at Taste Catering during college. One particularly memorable gig was an Apple Computer party held at the California Academy of Sciences aquarium. Our bar, complete with 6 foot dolphin ice sculptures, was setup in front of the alligator pit and next to Huey Lewis and the News. It was about 1989, and along with a partner, we rocked out to I want a new Drug, while dispatching over 3,500 oysters in a single night…my hands still hurt thinking about it. But let me tell you, I found my new drug: Oysters with Mignonette Sauce. The basic version we served that night was roughly:

1 cup champagne vinegar

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup chopped shallots

1/4 tsp fresh ground white pepper

To prepare, we boiled the alcohol out of the white wine. The shallots were also chopped and rinsed in cold water, which crisps them and removes a bitter flavor. The above was mixed in advance and served chilled. This sauce blew me away with its ability to enhance the flavor of oysters, unlike cocktail sauce, which covers up the essence of these wonderful bivalves that give up their lives for our enjoyment. OK, fast forward about 20 years and things have evolved. Somewhere along the line the Mignonette became a popular sauce with oysters, but with a twist…it’s now often frozen as a granité. I absolutely love this development, with one caveat..too many places make it sweet and fruity..I prefer the dry acidic versions. Now that we are back in Seattle, Sheri and I visited Taylor Shellfish (look for more on them in the future) and picked up several dozen oysters. Last night I decided to try a new twist on Mignonette, substituting Sake and Rice Vinegar into the above recipe. I also used a fun party trick to freeze the sauce, here’s how:

1. Get 2 plastic zipper bags, one gallon bag and one quart bag
2. Fill the smaller bag with the sauce
3. Fill the larger bag half way with Ice, crushed if possible, and 1 cup of salt
4. Place the smaller bag inside the big bag
5. Shake, massage, and generally molest the combo for 5-10 minutes

You will see that the salt melts the ice, lowering the freezing point of the water, and thereby quickly freezing the Mignonette into a slush. This sour, slightly crunchy, pink icee is shockingly good even by itself, but pure bliss on an oyster! Here’s a little video I created of last night’s experiment; but please excuse the shakiness…I cooked with one hand while operating the camera with the other:

Check out Hog Island Oysters for a variety of Mignonette recipes, including Hogwash.

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Trader Vic’s Part II:

One of my favorite soups at Trader Vic’s, actually anywhere, is Bongo Bongo soup. This signature dish is a spinach and oyster purée topped with a dollop of lightly whipped cream. If the thought of puréed oysters makes you gag, fear not, they add just a hint of wonderful background flavor and do not overpower the soup at all. You’d probably just think it was salt, but they give the soup that necessary rich, smooth, creamy texture.

Bongo Bongo Soup

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 10 oz jar of fresh shucked oysters (or shuck ‘em your bad self)
1/2 cup thawed frozen spinach (we’ve used fresh and it works quite fine)
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 cup clam juice
4 cup half-and-half
1 tsp A-1 Steak Sauce (I know, weird, but add it)
A dash of Tabasco sauce
A dash of Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt and fresh ground white pepper
2 tsp corn starch dissolved in 2 tsp cold water
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, lightly whipped, for garnish

Combine butter, oysters, spinach, garlic and clam juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once at a boil, turn off heat and set aside to cool.

In a separate saucepan, heat the half-and-half, but do not allow to boil.

Blend the cooled oyster mixture until smooth, then stir into the warm half-and-half. Add the A-1, Tabasco, Worcestershire and salt and heat thoroughly. Slowly mix in the cornstarch mixture and whisk constantly until soup thickens. Adjust the seasoning as needed.

Pour into bowls, garnish with a dollop of lightly whipped cream. If you’d like, brown the top under a broiler. Makes approximately 4 cups.

This is also a fun soup to serve in tiny shot-sized glasses as an hors d’oeuvre.

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