Houston Food Blog

​"A couple of months would have been okay, but five months is too much," oysterman Misho Ivic said about the newly announced FDA summer oyster ban. Oystermen were taken by surprise last weekend when the FDA went over the head of the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Commission and announced an aggressive new policy to clean up health problems caused by vibrio vulnificus bacteria. Now the oystermen are trying to push back. The sale of live Gulf oysters in the summer months is scheduled to end in May 2011, and the oyster industry says that's too soon.

Ivic said the new rules will still permit oyster leaseholders to harvest summer oysters and sell them shucked in jars or on the half shell if the oysters are treated. "But these post-harvest treated oysters don't taste any good," he complained. The oystermen will ask the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Commission for a shorter ban, more time to assess consumer reactions, and more time to study the issue.

Some news sources are mistakenly reporting that the Feds are seeking to ban all live oysters or force the post-harvest treatment of oysters throughout the year. The ban is for summer oysters only.

​You won't be eating raw live Gulf oysters in the summer anymore if a promised FDA ban takes effect. At the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference meeting in New Hampshire on Saturday, an FDA official announced that as of 2011, the agency would no longer allow fresh, live oysters from the Gulf to be sold between May and October. The ban is intended to reduce illnesses and deaths from vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria that thrives in Gulf waters during the warm summer months. Sales of post-harvest treated raw Gulf oysters, which are rendered harmless by freezing, or pasteurization, will still be allowed.

photo by Robb Walsh

Just because the season for raw oysters is ending doesn't mean we won't be eating oysters anymore. I had the best cooked oysters in recent memory for lunch yesterday. They were poached in cream that had been flavored with bacon and leeks and served over puff pastry. And they were prepared by none other than the legendary Chef Georges Guy. My dining companion had a duck confit salad--tossed greens beside a confit duck leg with crunchy skin served with crispy brown slices of potatoes cooked in duck fat.

Georges and his wife Monique said they were going to retire after they closed Chez Georges on Westheimer, where Feast is now located, but evidently they got restless and decided to open a teeny weeny little restaurant where they could feed their friends. The Georges new cafe is called La Brocante, which means "flea market" in French. The name refers to the "fake antiques" with are on display throughout the space. Monique waits tables and sells the knick-knacks. La Brocante is located at 2825 S. Kirkwood, just south of Westheimer. It's only been open a few weeks, but it's already crowded at lunchtime.

-Robb Walsh

photo by Robb Walsh

These petite-sized Galveston Bay oysters made a lovely breakfast. I ate them with some heavily buttered German sourdough rye toast from the HEB on Bunker Hill and a cup of Community Club coffee. A drop of lemon and a dash of Tabasco perked up the breakfast half shells nicely. Oysters and coffee taste great together.

I bought a sack of Galveston Bay oysters last week, probably my last of the season. I stop eating raw oysters when the water temperature gets above 65 F. The oysters I just bought were harvested during the last cold snap. I have to use them up quick, so I'll be eating a lot of oysters for the next couple of days. Most people associate oysters with cold beer or tart white wine--I know I used to.

photos by Robb Walsh

The oyster poor boy at BB's Cajun Cafe is right on the money. And that's not an easy thing to accomplish. To make a first class oyster poor boy, the cook needs to start with large oysters and batter them lightly--no gritty cornmeal please. Then he needs to leave the oysters in the fryer long enough to get cooked, but not so long that they get dried out. Sounds easy, right? So how come every oyster poor boy in town tastes like it's been stuffed with ping pong balls? (Probably because so many people freak out over properly cooked oysters.)

At the late great Original New Orleans Poor Boys on Main Street, they used to ask you if you wanted your oysters wet or dry when you ordered an oyster poor boy. That's one way around the problem. The other approach is to just do it right. At BB's Cajun Cafe, the gooey cooked oysters burst when you bite them and meld into the lettuce, tomato and dressing to form a luscious wet sandwich filling. And the roll is just the right size for a proper bread to filling ratio. I got a half an oyster poor boy with a cup of shrimp gumbo for lunch and dumped Crystal hot sauce all over both of them. What a lunch.

But my dining companion did even better...

Photo by Robb Walsh

The lime wedge really ties it all together.

Sweet mother of mercy, but we're nuts about oysters today, and with good reason: the recent glut may be your best chance to get plentiful, cheap oysters for years to come. Find out what the weather has to do with great oysters and much, much more in Robb Walsh's featured article. And if you still haven't had enough oyster coverage (and who can blame you?), you can check out our slideshow of raw, wet oysters coming out of their shells. Oh, baby. Is it lunch time yet for Pete's sake?

Finally, Robb is gonna show you some proper shucking technique.

As I drove by Pappa's Brothers Seafood on Shepherd yesterday afternoon around four o'clock, I noticed that the sign advertising oysters for $3.95 a dozen wasn't up anymore. I pulled over anyway and went inside to ask if the promotion was still going on. "Let me see," said the bartender pushing a button on the video screen of the cash register. "Yes, they are still $3.95." I ordered a dozen.

A reader named Gerald sent me an e-mail asking about oysters recently. He said his upstairs neighbor who is a waiter at Jimmy Wilson's told him the oysters they are currently serving at the restaurant are from Mississippi since everything in Galveston Bay got Ike'd. So I asked the bartender at Pappa's Brothers if I could see the bag tag. She looked at it and said the oysters were from Galveston Bay.

My new book Sex, Death & Oysters: A Half Shell Lover's World Tour was released January 1 and is now selling on Amazon. I'll make the rounds of Houston bookstores this week signing as many copies as I can find.

It was a 2004 cover story by the same name in the Houston Press that got the ball rolling on this book project. It gave me a great excuse to go eat oysters in England, Ireland, France and Canada and in most of the places where oysters are grown in the U.S. I also managed to earn a place in the Acme Oyster Bar's 15 Dozen Club in the course of my extensive research.

I shot a lot of photos while I was traveling around eating all those oysters, but the book was published as a narrative with only a series of black and white maps as illustrations. So I turned the digital photos into a slide show titled "Oyster Moments" and put it up on my website as an extra source of illustrations. It's also a good way to get a sneak peek at the book.

-Robb Walsh

What goes better with cold Champagne than hot grilled oysters? Also known as barbecued oysters, they are made by putting a fresh shucked oyster on a gas grill and spooning in some melted butter and garlic--you can add parmesan if you like. It was Drago's in Metairie that made char-grilled oysters famous. Jimmy G's on Sam Houston Tollway in Houston does a great job with them too. Gilhooley's does them over a pecan wood fire-that gives the oysters a great smokey flavor.

12 fresh-shucked oysters
4 tablespoons butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4 cloves garlic, minced
Grated parmesan to taste

Melt the butter in a pan and add the garlic, salt and pepper. Heat a grill. Put the shucked oysters over the hot part of the fire. When the shell gets hot, the oysters will begin to sizzle. Divide the garlic butter among the oysters. Don't be alarmed if the butter causes the fire to flare up--it adds a char-grilled flavor. Sprinkle parmesan over top after the butter. Serve immediately.

The big brute of the oyster-shucking world is called a "Galveston knife" (on the left). It's an eight-inch knife with a stout four-inch blade designed for opening large oysters like the five-inch Espiritu Santo Bay oyster shown beside it. (Espritu Santo Bay is down around Port O'Connor.) The knife shown is an inexpensive plastic model available at restaurant supply stores for under $10.

Scrub the oyster under running water to remove any mud. Never submerge an oyster in water--it will expel all the delicious oyster liquor. The pointy end of an oyster is the bill. The rounded end is the hinge.

To shuck the oyster, hold it down on a table or work surface using a towel to protect your hand.

Stick an oyster knife in the small opening in the hinge end.

Apalachicola is the premier Gulf oyster appellation. Even snobby oyster bars that normally don't include Gulf oysters feature these beauties from Northern Florida. The last time I checked, Apalachicola oysters were going for $2.25 apiece at Oceanaire Seafood in the Galleria--the same price as the precious little farm-raised oysters from New England. They aren't available all the time, but you also sometimes find them at Reef, Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse, and a couple of other upscale restaurants. They are expensive--but for good reason.

The French eat more oysters per capita than anybody in the Western world. And 80% of the oysters in France are eaten during the holiday season--from a few days before Christmas until a little after New Year's Day. Why? Because oysters are at their peak this time of year. And they go so well with the holiday feasts.

To me, the holidays wouldn't seem complete without oysters. But I've been disappointed by Galveston Bay oysters this season. Luckily the bivalves from Espiritu Santo Bay down around Port O'Connor weren't affected by Ike. They are spectacular right now with the highest salinity I've ever seen in Texas. (55 parts per thousand, but who's counting?)

Misho Ivic, the owner of Misho’s Oyster Company in San Leon, says that thanks to Ike, there aren’t going to be any oysters harvested in Galveston Bay for a while. The Louisiana oyster grounds were also closed for several weeks as a result of Gustav. But the closings will have limited impact since the public oyster season wasn’t open yet anyway. The oyster season on public reefs in Texas opens November 1 or at the discretion of Texas Parks & Wildlife. And by then, Misho Ivic figures he’ll be back in business.

Ivic lost one of his oyster boats in the hurricane. Another is sitting on top of levee near Texas City waiting for a crane to put it back in the water. Jeri’s Seafood at Smith Point lost several boats as well. The boat docks, refrigerated storage facilities and shucking plants at most oyster companies located on Galveston Bay are in shambles.

Having trouble getting started after the long and festive holiday weekend? I suggest you visit Tampico Mexican Restaurant on Airline and order the famous Mexican seafood cocktail and hangover cure called a “Vuelve a la Vida.” The name means “return to life.” The cocktail is also called “Levanta Muertos” or “back from the dead.”

The corpse-reviving concoction contains raw oysters, octopus, shrimp and crab in a sauce made of salsa, ketchup, onions, lime juice and cilantro, topped with a some avocado and served with saltines. And if that’s not enough to do the trick, get a couple of Coronas on the side. -- Robb Walsh

Sign on the front door of Gilhooley's Raw Bar. -- Robb Walsh

Delivery truck waiting to get loaded with oysters outside of Jeri's Seafood. -- Robb Walsh

Rodney’s Oyster House in Toronto put Galveston Bay oysters on sale last weekend at a whopping $3.85 Canadian EACH! Texans think ten bucks a dozen is outrageous – how about $46.20 for twelve?

Oysterman Rodney Clark is originally from Prince Edward Island, home of Malpeque Bay and some of Canada’s best oysters. But Malpeque Bay and many other Canadian oyster locales are frozen over at this time of year, and other cold Northern waters are yielding skinny oysters due to the lack of plankton.

Meanwhile, it’s peak oyster season in Texas, so Clark and Houston seafood dealer Jim Gossen of Louisiana Foods decided to try an experiment. Gossen put 300 extra large select oysters harvested from East Galveston Bay by Jeri’s Seafood Company on a Continental flight to Toronto.

A friend of mine brought me back some huge oysters from Camanada Pass off of Grand Isle, Louisiana, last weekend. These five-and-a-half-inch monsters made quite a mouthful, but they were some of the sweetest oysters I ever put in my mouth. Of course, the winter oyster season is just about at its absolute peak right now – the oysters are so fat they are bulging out of their shells.

Seafood experts like Jon Rowley in Seattle, the guy who put Copper River salmon on the map, contend that when it comes to oysters, bigger is generally better. Rowley says that C. virginicas (the species we grow in the Gulf) taste best fully mature and at least three-and-a-quarter inches in size.

I use the largest size oyster knife, which is known as a “Galveston knife.” It has a very sturdy four-inch blade. Dexter/Russell makes a version with a white plastic handle which is available in any Houston restaurant supply store for ten bucks or so. Or you can order one online.

The Galveston Knife is one of many styles of oyster knife that became popular in the heyday of the oyster. Here’s a great online guide to oyster knives for aficionados.

The cheapest place to eat oysters is in your backyard. Don't forget the Meyer lemons!

Thanks to the cold weather, the local oysters are putting on an extra coat of fat and they are sweeter than ever. So where’s the best place to eat them?

Unfortunately, the oyster happy hour at Danton’s on Montrose has come to an end. A reader named Mike Copenhaver told me in an e-mail that he found out about the change in price when got the bill for four dozen at $9.50 per dozen.

That’s kind of high. A couple of calls around town reveals that the new Jimmy Wilson’s Seafood and Chop House at 5161 San Felipe is charging $7 a dozen. Valentino’s at 20801 Gulf Freeway in Webster is getting $6 a dozen. Pappa’s Brothers Seafood House on the Gulf Freeway at Woodbridge has some really cheap oyster specials on the weekends. (Call 713-641-0318 for details.)

Personally, I buy a hundred count sack and shuck them myself. If you call Steve Berreth at Airline Seafood on Richmond at 713-526-2351 one day in advance, he’ll order a sack for you. It’s $30, which comes out to 30 cents each or $3.60 a dozen. You have to scrub them first, since they’re usually quite muddy, but it’s worth the effort.

Oyster season doesn’t open until November, and the half shell oysters don’t get really sweet until Christmas. But grilled oysters are good to eat all year long. Especially when they are made with oysters that were frozen on the half shell back in the middle of the winter when the oysters were plenty plump.

Fork over your $12.95 at Jimmy G’s Cajun Seafood Restaurant (307 Sam Houston Parkway, 281-931-7654) and watch the counter man line up your dozen on the gas grill and turn the fire up high. Jimmy G’s flame-grilled oysters are topped with parmesan cheese and basted with garlic butter. Okay, they stole the recipe from Drago’s in New Orleans, but those are some damn fine oysters. -- Robb Walsh

Yo, Sharon! You wanted to know where to go for fresh fish, cheap shrimp and shucked oysters.

Thing to do is take a drive down to Kemah. But before you go over the bridge, turn off into Seabrook and find Waterfront Drive, where the shrimp boats dock. There are at least half a dozen fish markets there. The prices down there are great--but be careful! This isn't Central Market.

You have to look over the shrimp carefully to make sure there aren't giving you any that are turning black. And I heard the bags of live crawfish aren't very good--they contain a lot of crushed ones. -- Robb Walsh

Check out the size of this oyster. You don't see a seven-inch oyster very often. Counting the rings, I figure it's five years old. I found it in a "boat sack" I bought for $36 a couple of weeks ago. You get somewhere between 220 and 250 oysters in a boat sack, so it's quite a bargain, but they aren't sorted.

Oyster bars usually buy hundred-count sacks, which cost around $20. The oystermen put the little ones into the half shell sacks and save the big ones for shucking. You never know what you are going to get in a boat sack. -- Robb Walsh

We took advantage of the recent sunny weather to drive down to Gilhooley's in San Leon and sit outside on the patio beneath the salvaged marine artifacts which hang from the trees there. The patio bartender, a feisty young woman named Nicky, told us her life story and brought us Lone Star beers to go with our buttery, cheesy, pecan wood-grilled "Oysters Gilhooley." We stopped at a seafood store and bought a sack of oysters to shuck in the backyard on our way home. I highly recommended this oyster-centric excursion if you are looking for a way to waste a sunny winter afternoon. -- Robb Walsh

UPDATE: Sorry, but you've got to keep the kids at home.

In my first two years as a home oyster shucker, I have noticed my oyster-eating guests prefer Loire Valley wines with high acidity levels. I wondered: Why the Loire Valley? What about high acidity wines from other places? And which of the Loire Valley wines is the best deal?

So I held a wine and oyster tasting recently, which, I admit, was mainly an excuse to party with wine and oysters in the back yard. But I actually did hand out ballot sheets and get five tasters to score five wines on how well they went with oysters on a scale of one to ten. -- Robb Walsh

Here's the results:

1. Domaine Crotereau, Quincy (Loire Valley), 2005, $18
Quincy wines are made with Sauvignon blanc. This one was recommended with oysters by a waiter at Le Dome, an awesome seafood restaurant in Paris. The flavor is tart, but more like raspberries than lemons.
Average score: 8.2

2. (tie) Domaine Cherrier et Fils, Sancerre (Loire Valley), 2005, $17
Sancerre is another Loire Valley Sauvignon blanc, and probably the most famous choice with any kind of seafood due to its lemony tartness.
Average score 6.8

2. (tie) Domaine de la Quilla, Sevre & Maine, Muscadet (Loire Valley) 2004, $8 to $9
Muscadet is the name of both the white wine and the grape varietal of the coastal region of the Loire Valley. The flavor is extremely tart, coarsely mineral, and spectacular with oysters. Muscadet is by far the best value in oyster wines.
Average score 6.8

3. Mommessin, Chablis (Burgundy), 2002, $18
Granted, this is an inexpensive Chablis (great ones run $50 to $70), but the flavor was sour instead of tart--more like dill pickles than lemons.
Average score: 5

4. Groth, Sauvignon Blanc, Napa, 2005, $16 at Spec's
I wanted to include a California Sauvignon blanc for contrast. The winemaker recommends this wine with oysters, but they age it in oak and vinify it in the fruity New Zealand style. It might taste good by itself, but it didn't have enough acid to stand up to the oysters.
Average score 4.2