5 September 2010
“Oysters may or may not cause people to fall in love with each other, but there are a good many folks who have fallen in love with oysters themselves.” – Kate Heyhoe, Editor, The Global Gourmet.
Once again I participated AFC Studio course. It was oyster-appreciating session this time. In this session I learnt to differentiate oysters, prepare sauces that did justice to them and the ways to enjoy the oysters. Chef Lino Sauro, the executive chef of Gattopardo, conducted the course. He specializes in Sicilian cuisine for more than 10 years and he is one of the best chefs in Singapore in authentic Sicilian cuisine.
Chef Sauro introduced four types of oyster to the young, fine, charming and extremely smart Mr Glutton, and that is me. There were La Gillardeau, Belon, Irish and Fine de Calries. He suggested the best way to enjoy oysters is to eat them raw. I had to taste them once the shells were opened, otherwise the oyster meats would shrink in size and the oyster flavour would reduced. Chef Sauro would rinse the oysters in the ice water after he opened the shells. This was to remove the shell particles from the meats. He tried not to do this because the ice water would reduce the flavour of the oysters.
La Gillardeau is sweet but salty, that curious junction of sweetness and marine flavours. It is also meaty and juicy too.
Belon is small and flat. The taste is salty, so the best way to eat Belon is use lemon juice to reduce salinity This also adds in sour flavour to the oyster.
Fine de Claries is slightly bigger than Belon and is less meaty. The best way to enjoy it is to add in sauce which consisted of apple, rum, lemon, ice and the juice of the oyster blended together. The juice of the oysters is collected when Chef Sauro opened the oyster. He mixed the juice together with the other ingredients to reduce the flavour of the blended sauce from overpowering the flavour of the oysters. Simply speaking, he ”returned” the oyster flavour to the sauce.
Irish is small but meaty with crisp texture. It supposed to be one of the best varieties of oysters.
I think oysters are generally quite salty if you eat them raw without adding sauces. My personal preference is to add in sauce consist of green, red, yellow bell peppers dices with olive oil, lemon and oyster juice. This will definitely make the taste of the oyster more exciting. I prefer La Gillardeau because it is meaty and sweet in taste. I fall in love with La Gillardeau.
One day I will go to Gattopardo and enjoy Chef Sauro’s artistic creation. I guess this will happen right after I complete my master course and celebrate Christmas at the same time.
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