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Does anyone else have certain activities you just don’t try because everyone kept telling you that you can’t do it? For me, it was shucking oysters and driving in New York City.
I now drive in New York City, but I don’t like it. The only reason I started doing it is because I live 10 minutes away and it became inevitable. Oyster shucking, though? That’s not inevitable.
This all started when I wrote “A Tale of Two Red Bank Drink Venues” about a bad experience I had. My husband and I were just craving seafood. I was craving a raw bar.
I’m currently working on a special cookbook publication as a gift to my daughter, who recently took up cooking as a hobby. So, I’ve been trying to push myself to develop good recipes that I can add to classic family recipes.
Oysters, particularly raw oysters and Oysters Rockefeller, seemed like a good choice.
If you’ve ever hung out with me, you know there are certain foods that I am addicted to. These foods include sushi, Korean hot pot, broth-based fondue, Oysters Rockefeller, and raw bar seafood.
I know how to roll my own sushi and make my own poke bowls, no problem. I’m also a long-time fondue aficionado with my own pot and signature dish. It was a staple for me when I was down on my luck.
Those recipes are going in my cookbook, as are my recipes for family favorites like crepes, bacon pasta, my mom’s dolmades recipe, my Thanksgiving turkey recipe, my stuffing recipe, and a bunch of others.
But, I want to go beyond my comfort zone for this. I want my kid to be able to cook the dishes that always brought me joy. I also expect her to exceed my abilities because she’s that friggin’ awesome and I know she’s gonna focus on learning this life skill.
This leaves hot pot, raw bar, and Oysters Rockefeller as the dishes I have yet to master. I decided to tackle Oysters Rockefeller after I put the finishing touches on my scallops recipe.
Raw oysters were always treated like a Red Rider BB Gun in ‘A Christmas Story’ for me.
You remember A Christmas Story? If not, it’s the story of a kid in the 1940s who dreamed of a Red Rider BB Gun for Christmas. He wants it so bad, but everyone just tells him, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!”
For me, oyster shucking was the same deal. I was encouraged to eat them at restaurants by my parents and friends. I was encouraged to order them when we were at local lobster shanties.
But actually opening them myself? Oh no.
I always wanted to shuck oysters myself as a kid. I was always hit with, “You’ll stab yourself, kid!” or “You’ll stab your eye out, kid! I’ve seen how you are with swords and daggers, and you can barely handle those without hacking and slashing everything in sight.”
Funny as this sounds, I’d pass by grocery store displays with oysters and look a little jealous. I would eye the oysters — so close, yet apparently, so out of reach for my skill set. So, I would try to satiate my oyster cravings with smoked, tinned oysters.
But let’s be real, there’s only so many things you can do with smoked oysters. Raw oysters are just epic.
Having a kid gave me the courage to stop listening to the “You’ll shuck your eye out!” warnings of yore.
I bought a dozen oysters, researched how to make opening them easier, and shoved most of them in the freezer. Then, I let them defrost in the fridge. This loosens up their shells while keeping them fresh.
This is actually a method called “freezing” and it’s technically not shucking, but it gets the job done. You just have to eat the oysters then and there if you choose this method.
I also tried the old-fashioned way, albeit with the wrong kind of knife.
I took a knife and gently slid it between the shells where I’d see a little space. The knife twists, I hear a pop, and then I can go on separating the muscle from the shell.
Boom. Shucking wasn’t as hard as I thought it was. And no, I didn’t shuck my eye out. Just like that, oysters became a more approachable part of cooking.
There’s a lesson to be learned here that often needs to be retaught.
A lot of the time, we tend to believe people when people tell us we can’t do something. For me, the best example of this was with oyster shucking. Everyone expected me to be a mess with them and I believed them.
I heard it all the time. Everyone told me I would stab my hand or shuck my eye out. And you know what? I believed them without even trying my hand at it for 36 years — just because everyone sounded so certain about my ineptitude.
We all hear the old adage, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take,” but we don’t really think about what that means. Sometimes, we just assume that phrase doesn’t apply to us about certain things. That assumption is not true.
So, no matter what it is that people tell you is off-limits to you, don’t listen to them. Tell them to shuck off.
I don't know why. I just never could get into raw oysters. They just taste mostly like salt water to me. Or it could just be how the place I ate them at prepared them. I just wound up liking the baked ones better.
Mahalo for your uplifting story!
This reinforces my desire to be encouraging, not discouraging, to my nieces and nephews. While there are things that genuinely require caution, like a Red Ryder BB gun, I'd generally rather see them try and fail, then never try at all