I am not an oyster fan, I just cannot get my arms around the fact that they are mostly farmed, washed, shipped globally and often have a taste that isn’t 100% right. Remember oysters are filter feeders, drawing water in over their gills through the beating of microscopic hairs named cilia. So essentially they begin to die the moment they are removed from the water, but are shipped with the last drips of salt water inside their shells. They even last up to ten days if stored in a cool place. So if you can stomach eating dying seafoods, then so be it.

On the other hand when you have the perfect oyster moment, it’s perfect and it is memorable but only with plenty of champagne, or for some beer. I do recall some of those moments in Paris and in New York when I tried so-called fresh oysters, or at least I thought they were.

Bottomline, oysters are mostly a visual and textural experience, a cold bite, a sea swash buckling moment of glory, add some vinegar, or lemon to protect yourself from the eventual stomach ache. I am sorry this isn’t meant to be cynical – this is just a kind of shellfish reality.