General Chat

Have spent the last hour laughing until tears ran down my cheeks.

My friend who won't eat anything that is not traditional English arrived with several Oysters as a surprise for me. Didn't know what to say.

He says it is dangerous the way I open them. Told him to get on with it it he can do better.

He got the biggest screwdriver from the tool box to make a hole - some were relatively easy to flip open. Not detered by the larger ones he rushed outside with a hammer and smashed them open. All through the process you could hear him muttering to himself - yuk, oooh, ah, disgusting.

He had a sniff at them but that is as far as he went. I put some lemon on them and swallowed them all.

Since then he's not stopped looking at me as if I'm bonkers and I can't stop laughing. Who ever heard of opening oysters with a hammer for God's sake.

What you needed, NS, was a shucker...I wouldn't be without mine, I love oysters!

Yuk.........food for the devil. :-P

*IF* we were ever to have oysters, thats the sort of thing which would happen in our house. As long as they were still edible, thats the main thing. How kind of your friend to bring them to you.

We did have lobster for Christmas lunch one year - out came the monkey-wrench from the shed to crack the claws :-D

Oh yuk, I have never eaten an oyster and wouldn't, I hate the thought of shellfish, all slimy and chewy

Glad you enjoyed yours tho, what a kind chap to give you such a gift.

Lizx

Have only had them once. They were reduced from about £5 to 50p on fish counter in Morrisons - so thought I would try them.

Never heard of a shuckler and fishmonger told me about a hole and then a large screwdriver. Had to find a book to find out how to cook them :-S :-S

Anyway, got them open and poured them all down my throat. Salty and pretty tasteless. Dropped one and the cat ate it. Both of us frisky for days :-D :-D

I love most shellfish but have never eaten an oyster, just don't fancy them, and only very occasionally eat mussels when they are part of paella, couldn't eat a whole plateful.

JLH funny man - shuckler don't know where to get one.
Oysters are not easy to get in London - only some places sell them.
Seems the foreign fish shops are starting to bring them in from France.

My family are a bohemian lot - eat the wierd and the wacky.

I have never eaten cooked shell fish. I actually travel to Angel London to buy a large pot of whelks once a week. My 6 years old grandaughter says she likes calamari and for a snack happily trots off to Sainsbury's local across the road, for prawn cocktail.

In USA they have oyster bars along some coast lines with even happy hour. Double portions all fat and juicy.

Yes I can understand why some people don't like them. ;-) ;-)

We eat quite a lot of calamare Romana when in Tenerife but it does vary, sometimes it can be too chewy.

I don't like calamari either, but I do enjoy fish especially salmon and swordfish. I will eat prawns if they are undressed, can't be fiddling about shelling them. Oh and I love crab, especially from Cromer. Might be going there this week so will treat myself.

Lizx

I love oysters. We went out for a birthday meal the other night. We had a seafood platter with oysters, prawns, crab, lobster and smoked salmon served with lemon. It was delicious :-D

SueMaid - yum, yum

We have seafood marinara at least once a week.. I love shell fish.

When I was young we used to get Toheroas up north but they are hard to come by now.. sometimes get tuatua in a restaurant.

But can get paua, scallops, mussels, cockles, pipis and oysters most of the time and of course crab, crayfish, shrimps,prawns.... but again we have to go to a restaurant to get your Aussie .. Moreton Bay Bugs.. and I have to go to Aussie for yabbies. LOL

Invercargill probably does the best seafood in a restaurant.. you get value for money there.

Still can't bring myself to eat kina though.

Persie

What is kina, my lovely friend.

Persephone - sounds good but have to admit I had to look up google images for paua, kina & pipis. Though I was a bit shocked at the revolting images that got mixed up with the Pipis shell fish images - so anybody else looking them up beware

I won't look up pipis then :-0

My google search is set on NZ so I only get the good stuff...

What is a Pipi?
A Pipi (pronounced Pippy) is a shell fish found commonly on New Zealand’s sandy beaches. Compared to the likes of Oysters, Mussels and Paua, the Pipi is fairly humble and simple. However it’s bite sized, sweet and when cooked right, tender.

Had never heard of most of these Antipodean delicacies till this thread. And I absolutely love shellfish - I could live on whelks, I think.