Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Kitchen of Love - Oysters Three Ways



To celebrate Valentine's Day and aphrodisiacs (to add some spice to your Valentine), Mele Cotte is hosting a blog event with the theme of The Kitchen of Love. This involves preparing an appetizer, dinner dish or side item that includes at least one food that is considered an aphrodisiac.

I have chosen oysters as the basis of my submission, served three different ways:



According to
an article in The Sydney Morning Herald, oysters are supposedly rich in rare amino acids which boost the levels of sex hormones, and Casanova purportedly ate 50 oysters for breakfast each day. However, the article warns that if you want to preserve the aphrodisiac qualities of oysters, it is best to eat them raw, as cooking oysters will eventually destroy the rare amino acids.

The first way in which I have served oysters is devilled oysters:



To make these, place your opened oysters on a grill tray, and sprinkle each one with salt and pepper to taste, curry powder and a twist of lemon. Next, place the oysters under a heated griller element and grill until the oysters just start to curl.

The next way in which I served oysters is au naturel with lemon and parsley:


This one is very simple, and is my personal favourite. Simply place your opened oysters on a serving tray, squeeze a little lemon juice over each one, and garnish each with a sprig of parsley. This method of serving allows the natural taste of the oysters to shine through.

The final way in which I served oysters is known as Oysters Kilpatrick:


For every dozen oysters, you will need 100g diced bacon, 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 3 tablespoons tomato sauce and a lemon. Place the opened oysters on a grill tray and sprinkle each with diced bacon. Combine the two sauces, and spoon a little of the resulting sauce over each oyster. Grill the oysters until the bacon is cooked. Serve with lemon wedges. If you like, you can also sprinkle grated cheese over the oysters after the bacon has cooked and grill the oysters for a further period until the cheese melts.

I liked the flavour of the Oysters Kilpatrick, but found that the bacon and spicy sauce overwhelmed the flavour of the oysters. Perhaps this one would make a better pizza topping than a topping for oysters!

I hope that you enjoyed these simple ways with oysters - Happy Valentines Day! And don't forget to check the roundup of other Valentines dishes at Mele Cotte here.

13 comments:

  1. Viagra, Cialis? Move over...oysters are still "it"!

    Oysters even win over the most timid of people who avoid raw food, bravo!

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  2. Thanks for participating! These look fantastic - so elegant and fancy!

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  3. Hi Peter, Absolutely - oysters are so much better in every way than pharmaceuticals, and far more romantic.

    Thanks for hosting this event Chris and for your kind comment. It was fun to do.

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  4. Wow, my husband will fall to my feet if I prepare these oysters for him! He will get the aphrodisiac just by looking and smelling them!!! MMmmmmm

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  5. Hi Nuria, if you make these, hope you like them!

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  6. Oyster heaven am I. If there was an oyster contest, I would win it, trust me.

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  7. Hi Pixie, Oysters are terrific, aren't they - though I know plenty of people who are scared to try them because they aren't the prettiest seafood.

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  8. what a fantastic aphrodisiac meal. I've never seen oysters prepared in so many different ways. I think the first one sounds very tasty!. Yummmmmm!

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  9. WOW! The ultimate Aphrodisiac!! They look Great!! My hubby wont eat seafood =( Dang him!! lol

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  10. Your pictures and the way your prepare your oysters makes me wish I liked them. My husband would fall over with happiness if I made them for him though...

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  11. These sound great, when we were kids we would dig them out of the sand and eat them straight away. Your picture looks great.

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  12. Thanks Angel - if you try them out, let me know what you think.

    Sweet Designs, you will have to coax your hubby into trying oysters (unless he's allergic to seafood) - they are sooo good.

    Thanks Mary - very flattered that I can tempt a non-oyster lover.

    Ivy, how wonderful to be able to dig the oysters out yourself - a lovely memory!

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  13. Thanks for providing oysters dish preparation it’s looking very yummy

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Thanks for dropping by!