Oysters Ahoy!
Olly Smith
| OYSTERS are smashing. The ultimate fast food - shuck it, eat it, move onto the next one. There is no fresher flavour, nothing more briny and sea-like than the glorious oyster. I have just tasted an oyster that was larger than my hand thanks to John Wright of River Cottage. He foraged a bunch of them from Poole Harbour somewhere and brought them round partly to terrify me and partly because he appreciates my penchant for a spot of super-fresh gear. They looked like artichoke hearts and tasted immensely sweet, easily the most scrumptious oyster I have ever tasted, so big though that we had to slice them up to feast on them! |
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Oysters are long famed as nature's Viagra but for me they afford a terrific opportunity to sample the world's driest wines. Refreshment is key. Champagne is popular with oysters thanks to its refreshment and zing, as is sauvignon blanc, but for a sensational bargain you could look to the briny tang of a Muscadet-Sur-Lie. Often underrated, northern French muscadet is long overdue a comeback, just like the southern French Picpoul de Pinet - crisp zingy white that works incredibly well with a range of shellfish and seafood. Spain is also a decent place to look - albariño from Galicia always reminds me of bone dry chablis but with an aromatic twist to it, like the merest whiff of a Thai fruit market. But there’s also Greece - the white wines of Santorini are super dry with a salty tang thanks to the sea dew and work a treat with oysters. Then again there's Spanish manzanilla with its nutty briny tang. All of these work with oysters and bring out different aspects of the dish. However, my current top tipple with oysters is riesling - and not just any old Riesling, bone dry lip-smackerous riesling from Clare Valley in Australia is a good place to start. And if you can hunt a German riesling that is more ping than pong, go for it. The acidity of riesling is what makes it work - brightness, freshness, all the things that mimic the osiers, which in turn reminds me of the sea. Pop, shuck and slurp that vino. Oysters ahoy! |
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Shuckingly good Wines
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Wines from Waitrose Forget champagne, buy English fizz, Nyetimber Brut sparkling wine 2001, is aptly fresh with a savoury touch and a bright zingy aftertaste. Have it! Henschke Louis semillon 2007, is seriously intense with its tart lemony bite and a superb drop of refreshment. Crisp, mouthwatering booze. Brigantia albariño 2008, is tangy, crisp and pure - like leaping into the Bay of Biscay starkers. Look out for the salty edge that refreshes and makes you thirsty for more. |
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Wines from merchants www.laithwaites.co.uk http://cellarandkitchen.adnams.co.uk |
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Stout
| Stout and oysters is a curious combo. Why does it work? If you think about the wines that go with oysters (riesling, albariño, Champagne) they are emulating the freshness, the saltiness, the uplifting dazzle of the sea. The reason stout works is because it provides the ultimate contrast. It is thick, rich, sweet and weighty. They offset one another magnificently and combine to provide an entirely new sensation - and this is fairly common in food matching: sweet and sour, chutney with curry, even strawberries with black pepper! It offers a completely different slant on the dish but at the same time gives a distinctive, eccentric and rather British match. Cheers! |
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