Fish & Seafood · Whitstable, Kent

Whitstable Oysters with Shallot Vinegar

Name: Whitstable Oysters with Shallot Vinegar
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: Serves 2 (6 oysters)
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 6 fresh native oysters, alive and tightly closed; 1 banana shallot, very finely diced; 60ml red wine vinegar; Cracked black pepper; crushed ice or rock salt, to serve; Lemon wedges; brown bread and butter

Native Whitstable oysters eaten as the Romans found them — raw, cold, with nothing but a sharp mignonette of shallots and red wine vinegar.

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 0 min
Total: 15 min
Yield: Serves 2 (6 oysters)
Difficulty: Easy
Era: Roman Britain onwards

Ingredients

6 fresh native oysters, alive and tightly closed
1 banana shallot, very finely diced
60ml red wine vinegar
Cracked black pepper; crushed ice or rock salt, to serve
Lemon wedges; brown bread and butter

Method

Make the mignonette: steep the shallot in the vinegar with a good crack of pepper for 30 minutes.
Shuck the oysters over a bowl to catch every drop of liquor; cut them free and settle them back in the deep half-shell.
Nestle the shells on crushed ice or rock salt.
Serve with the mignonette, lemon and brown bread — and the discipline to add very little else.

Oven temperatures are given in Celsius, Fahrenheit, fan and gas mark throughout. Quantities are metric, as cooked and written in the UK.