today i was quite stumped for an o post. so at lunchtime i decided to walk over to the market and see what i could find along the way. passed by the park, nothing there. the shops, nothing there. when i got to the market itself the smell of cut meat almost made me puke so i ran to the bagel shop to catch the scent of freshly made bagels and the pastry shop next door had really comforting baked goods. then i had a eureka moment as it occurred to me at the very back of the building is where the seafood vendors are and "oyster" suddenly came to mind!
so voilà les huîtres!
i asked the vendor, a young korean guy or probably japanese if it was possible to buy just one piece of oyster and he said of course. naturally that was open to some kind of inquisition.
why only one?
just for a project.
what kind of project?
photography. how much is one?
just a dollar and a quarter. so are you a food stylist?
no, just a hobbyist.
ah, i see.
he chose four of the best looking ones in the container that's filled with ice chunks. there were some old ladies, one of them must be his mother, and they were each keeping an eye on us. he put the oysters down and asked me to choose. i pointed to the one on top of the photo.
can you open it for me? i don't know how to as i've never had oyster in my life.
really? why?
just don't like it.
pity, as they are quite good, you know.
he pointed to the sign: $1.25 per piece, 35 cents per piece to chuck. i said that it was fine. i went around the counter and asked one of the ladies to give me four of the big scallops. she puts four on the scale, the ugliest looking ones. the man came to the counter took the scallops back into the big bowl and chose four nice ones, each time waiting for me to nod my approval. $8 in total. he wrapped my purchase and rang in $8 on the till. "the oysters are free, for your project." yay!
problem is i would have to throw this away as partner doesn't eat them either unless it's oyster soup. two really good looking oysters for naught.
thank you for your kind visits and comments; know that they are truly appreciated.
Beautiful food styling! That's quite lovely! As I was raised by a New Orleans mother, we had gumbo frequently, and these found their way into it.. So I didn't see this without having another "o" word to offer you...and a nice bowl full is a taste great....."Okra" Gumbo!.
I love raw oyster but the first time I ate on I gagged because I thought it felt like ice cold snot! But then I kept thinking of the flavor and craving it, that salty lemon added just the right touch to haunt me
A nice little adventure to go with this shot. Nice shot as well. I have never tried an oyster before so I can not say whether or not I like them. Maybe one of these days I will at least give one a try
What is it with all of you non-oyster eaters?!! Those things are delicious, and I would slurp those two down in a heartbeat! One year we were in Morro Bay at the Harbor Festival and they had an oyster eating competition, and I was so jealous of all the participants for scarfing down as many oysters as they could stuff in their mouths! I thought I would practice for the next year, but they cancelled it!
@panthora - they cancelled? they must've heard you were planning to enter the competition and were afraid they'd run out of oysters! :-D my hat off to ladies who slurp down oysters. thank you, osia.
@homeschoolmom - i was surprised when he didn't charge me for it. i only wanted one, but he chucked one open and also gave me the nicest of the four. i supposed it amused him. what crazy person would spend money on something just to photograph it? ah, yeah, there's us! thank you, lisa.
@cheribug -eeeeeek! no! no! i'm pretty sure it would come right back up! you know last night, i could look at it because i thought it was a coup that i thought of oyster for the challenge. but tonight, i can't look at it anymore, it's ewww! hahahaha! thank you, my cheribug.
Never had the desire, nerve, interest or need to try oysters! Although I do like fried clams. Go figure. Nice shot for all the oyster lovers out there!
October 24th, 2014
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