I remember as a young girl reading the book The Pearl by John Steinbeck. What a wonderful story of the search to find beautiful pearls, along with the determination and training necessary long ago for divers to go deep enough in the sea and stay there long enough to find the oysters that contained the prized pearls! Ever since then I’ve been fascinated by pearls. Oysters and pearls have always been almost magical - the whole idea of finding something that is valuable and cherished in something as ordinary as an oyster.
Since I’m an avid reader and writer, I’ve thought about how cool it would be to write a story about finding a magical bed of oysters that, when opened, yielded a truly unusual prize. I’ve thought and thought, but what could be more special than pearls? So that’s as far as that particular line of thinking went. I still think it’s a good idea for a fantasy story, though.
Did I write earlier that oysters are ordinary? Well no, they’re not! I also remember having oyster stew as a child. There’s just nothing that tastes quite like oyster stew. I love it. When RT and I went to New Orleans back in 1975, I had raw Gulf oysters for the first time. I was hesitant since I’d never had raw oysters before, but RT assured me they were wonderful. So we sprinkled a little hot sauce on them, put them on a cracker, and down the hatch they went! And he was right - they were great! Since then, I’ve had fried oysers a few times, although I haven’t tried raw oysters again. RT, though, always orders oysters on the half shell whenever we’re at the beach and he knows the oysters are fresh.
I’ve learned, though, that eating raw oysters can be dangerous for ‘at risk’ people because of the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria. At risk people are those with a weakened immune system, diabetes or liver disease. However researchers are busy developing methods of processing oysers so that they aren’t a threat to at risk consumers. They are also educating consumers on determining if they are at risk and how to enjoy the delectable taste of oysters without putting themselves at risk. The webiste with all the information is the Be Oyster Aware website. Click on over to find out if you are at risk and how to protect yourself. You’ll find some great oyster recipes while you’re there, too.
