Where to find oysters — the fruit of love — for Valentine’s Day

Every weeknight over the course of a year, I slaved over a fryer full of hot fat, frying dozens upon dozens of oysters at Roosters: A Noble’s Grille early in my culinary career. I counted out shucked oysters soon to be plated on the house oyster salad alongside strips of roasted red pepper, chopped hard-boiled egg and dollops of bacon-balsamic dressing. One by one, I scooped them into a bin of seasoned flour, shook off the excess with a sifter and dropped them, one at a time, into the sizzling oil. I watched as each nugget bobbed below the surface and popped up, creating a symphonious whirlpool. Watching the skirt of flour cast out and then dissipate into a translucent net of gluten around each gobbet was a calming joy amidst the tickets being yelled across the kitchen and the chaos of cooking on the line.

Oysters are
not pretty to look at. Before the shell is opened, shades of burnt sienna,
black and mottled green coat the outside. Once shucked, the strange,
oblong-shaped gray mass looks to be something that should be discarded rather
than slurped, sipped or slipped out of its shell. If you’re lucky, you may find
a small calcified bit of calcium carbonate, also known as a pearl, inside your
mollusk of choice.

It’s downright romantic.

It’s a
common misnomer that oysters are aphrodisiacs. According to a 2017 article in Smithsonian,
there is no scientific proof that oysters are an aphrodisiac. It isn’t so much
about what oysters do for you, as much as how they make you feel.

The ritual
of shucking and consuming oysters can be a sensual experience. Fresh oysters lie
plump and turgid in the shell. Moist and soft frills give way to firm meat that
brims with briny, natural juices. The scent is reminiscent of the seashore while
the shell is a curvaceous, voluptuous vessel that holds the promise of a
coastal treat. There’s a mystery amid the distended, juicy folds of the
delicate meat that resembles feminine sensuality. It’s sexy. And delicious.

The
preparation of oysters is simple yet varied. Raw, steamed, chargrilled or
fried, each cooking method lends itself to releasing different qualities of the
mollusk. Oysters take on the characteristics of their environment, which show
up in their appearance, texture and taste profile. Just like coffee cherries or
grapes pick up resonance from the land they are cultivated in, oysters are the
same.

Raw is the
simplest form. While there are raw bars all over the Triad, White and Wood
presents a fresh take on this delicacy with cilantro, chopped Fresno chile,
shallots and a squeeze of lime.

At Coast in
High Point, Chef Jeremy Feder prepares a host of different oysters on the menu,
but the BBQ oyster is the most unique. Lacquered with a tangy barbecue sauce
tinged with a hit of liquid smoke and herbed butter, it’s grilled just until
barely cooked, coagulating the protein and garnished with parsley.

Fried
oysters are the most common in the area and there’s a reason why: It’s quick,
it’s easy and oysters are 100 percent more aesthetically pleasing once coated
in a crispy batter. The fried-oyster appetizer at Christina Gray’s in High
Point is one of the most interesting preparations in the area.

Below is a list of some of the more ambitious preparations of oysters in the Triad. The list goes beyond the boilerplate Rockerfellers, Casinos and Calabash-style options:

1. Coast, BBQ grilled oyster
2. Magnolia Blue, Nashville hot oysters
3. 1618 West Seafood Grille, Shrimp and oyster slider
4. Milner’s, Oysters and grits; Fried oyster salad with chow chow, tomato remoulade
5. Reel Seafood, Oyster tacos
6. Roosters: A Noble Grille, fried oyster salad with bacon balsamic dressing
7. White and Wood, raw and roasted oysters
8. Cristina Gray’s, Fried oysters with black eyed pea succotash and garlic prawn sauce

Want to go?

• 1618 Seafood – 1618 W Friendly Ave, Greensboro
• Coast 5820 – Samet Dr., High Point
• Cristina Gray’s – 1108 N Main St., High Point
• Magnolia Blue – 1807 N Main St., High Point
• Milner’s – 630 S. Stratford Rd., Winston-Salem
• Reel Seafood Grille – 2002 New Garden Rd., Greensboro
• Rooster’s: A Noble Grille – 380 Knollwood St., Winston-Salem
• White and Wood – 215 S. Elm St., Greensboro