The “opening an oyster” step at Christmas can make more than one sweat. If their popularity is mixed, their presence at Christmas remains essential. And their openness far removed from ease. Here are some tips for opening your oysters quickly on D-Day.
First, what to keep in mind when trying to taste oysters at Christmas is the importance of waiting until the last moment to open them. Indeed, you must consume the oysters maximum three hours after opening. Hence the rush that you can feel when you have about fifty pieces to serve. To do this, it is crucial to protect your hands. If some people use a tea towel, it is safer to put on pot holders. These will protect the whole hand and will not slip as much as the tea towel. Regarding the knife, it is imperative to use a good oyster knife, a knife with a sharp and short blade that does not have a long handle (size of the fist).
Then take the oyster in your weak hand (left if you are right-handed and vice versa). The hollow shell of the oyster should be in your palm and its point towards the wrist of your hand. Hold the blade of your knife between your thumb and forefinger of your strong hand and push it in at ⅔ of the shell from the bottom in order to separate the two shells (hollow part and flat part). With a lever movement you will be able to open the oyster more easily than with a linear movement. If the oyster resists, alternate lever movements with jerky rotary movements. Once the knife is inserted into the shell, cut the muscle to finally separate the two parts of the shell. Your oyster is open! But it is not finished. It is then necessary to detach the flesh from the shell while maintaining it inside for the presentation. Then empty the first water from your oyster so that a new one is secreted – tastier because it is saltier.
Easy-opening oysters have been fisted in Charente-Maritime
What is very important, despite the desire to taste them quickly, is to remain patient and not to force yourself because you risk injuring yourself. Small tips can also help you make them easier to open: like putting them in the microwave, steaming them before handling or even asking a professional to do it.
To solve this problem, an oyster farmer from Charente-Maritime, presented by France 3 New Aquitaine, has developed easy-opening oysters. In fact, Jean-Michel Aimé, manager of Clair’Ostréa, grinds his oysters in seawater using a strawberry then covers the notch created with wax. This allows easier handling as well as a more secure separation of the two shells. However, they cost a little more expensive than the average (2 to 3 euros more per basket).