Why would you eat an oyster? (Davis Street Fishmarket)

I admit, I grew up in Kansas. Oysters were about as much a part of our eating lives as seal blubber is for Hollywood starlets. I try, honestly I do, the first time I went to New York one of the first places I ate was the Grand Central oyster bar. And occasionally I even enjoy them, as I did a while back at Gale Street Inn, though what I was eating would have had much the same cocktail sauce-and-horseradish flavor with no oyster involved, I have to say. It may just be too late for me, but I look at this:



And I ask, even by the standards of invertebrate sea creatures which I am willing to put in my mouth, why would I eat that? It looks like the part you throw away of something you eat the rest of.

So there I was, kindly invited to Davis Street Fishmarket, very kindly invited to partake of big platters of oysters, wondering how the cheeseburger or the pork chops were, and quickly filling up on beer and tater tots:



Which are okay, especially sprinkled with a little malt vinegar, but not really my idea of a complete meal in and of themselves.

Well, I have no other point beyond that, so I'll just show some pics of the andouille sausage which we also shared, and the alleged King Crab legs (a little small, we suspected they were more like Prince Consort Crab legs, but tasty) which I finally, after much dithering, ordered and ate instead of oysters.





But thanks for offering, and trying. Good company, good food otherwise, and... I'll take your word for it on the oysters, thanks.

I had a good time there last night. I must also admit that while in the past I have enjoyed oysters, last night they didn't do so much for me.

I did get some tasty ceviche that was more like the coctel de camarones you get at Maxwell St.; larger pieces of tomato and onion and a ketchup based binder. Add a good dose of hot sauce and it was very nice. The ceviche was advertised as shrimp annd scallop but my portion had one tiny piece of scallop to about 15-20 shrimp.

The tater tots were fantastic, I ususally bake them for the kids but I may have to spend the time and effort to fry them from now on.

I absolutely love the gumbo at Davis Street. Soooooo good. Very rich flavors, thick, with hefty pieces of sausage, fish, and a nice big crab leg sticking out of the middle. Just wonderful.

Octarine wrote:The tater tots were fantastic, I ususally bake them for the kids but I may have to spend the time and effort to fry them from now on.

Try roasting them in a pre-heated 475 degree oven, in a cast iron skillet (also pre-heated) with about 1/8 inch of peanut oil in the bottom. Shake the skillet frequently to make sure the tots don't stick together, and are turning over from time to time.

I like them this way better than fried. They come out really crunchy, and pick up a nice, nutty flavor from the peanut oil.

I am a huge fan of oysters on the half-shell, and this particuar trip to Davis St. was my attempt to get some good East Coast oysters before the spawning months hit.

They were ok, but not really the best last night. Out of about the 12 or 14 that I had, there were maybe 2 or 3 really tasty ones. We had Rhode Island Wilds and Delaware Bay Oysters (I think) and it is certainly getting a little late in the season to enjoy these. Most of them were not very flavorful, meaty, or tasty at all. I sent one back on sight alone. Luckly, I'm heading to Southern Cal. in about six weeks where the oysters are great all year round.

The crab was definitely a young king, with pretty pliable shells, but tasty meat.

The highlight of the meal, besides the enjoyable company, was the tots. Hot from the frier, crispy outside and fluffy inside. They went great with the creole mustard that was intended for the sausage. The evening evokes a paraphrase of Napoleon Dynamite: "Get your own tots! Gosh!"

Best,
Michael / EC

"It was a brave man who ate the first oyster." -- Samuel Johnson

I drool over oysters, and will take them in any form and fashion. On the half-shell, I have to admit, they are a cultivated taste.

As are, perhaps, oysters in general. I teach in higher ed (and, of course, food metaphors and analogies often work their way into my discussions). I have a student this semester from Missouri who is permanently off of oysters. It seems that, as a child, he was taken on vacation somewhere and loaded up his cafeteria plate with what he assumed were "chicken nuggets," but were, of course, fried oysters. He turned green from the recollection.

Those new to the briny morsel might want to try it first in other incarnations (smoked, stewed, fried, or baked) before venturing to the raw form. I still have dreams of the oyster bakes I attended and hosted on the East Coast of Florida, where I lived for three years: bushels of freshly dredged Apalachicola oysters still muddy from the bay, hosed off, and tossed onto grates above charcoal to cook in their own salty liquor until the shells just cracked open. All you needed to add, if you desired, was a little lemon juice or Tabasco sauce. No utensils required. Just slurping.

Cheers,
Wade

Not to pick nits but Appalachicola is Gulf Coast, not East Coast (I vacation on St. George Island every year). They are mighty fine oysters. I've had the benefit of eating them from the gunwales of a boat shucked 30 seconds after being removed from the bed. Watching the sun set, eating fresh oysters with family, and a cold beer - it's a great end to the day.

EC wrote:The crab was definitely a young king, with pretty pliable shells, but tasty meat

A soft shell is a trademark of a recently molted crustacean. The meat does not fill the shell completely as an allowance for future growth.

Regards,

"Southern Cal. in about six weeks where the oysters are great all year round"

?????

I never thought of SoCal as an oyster destination. Any specific locale/kind of oyster?

PS, I am a big fan of the Gulf oyster, with some of my fondest memories involving free flowing oysters, fresh from the boat and dumped onto a dock in Cedar Key, next to the kegs.

For being nowhere near the ocean, Chicago is a solid oyster town, always has been. But the Gulfs are tough to come by because of the remote, but very serious health risks.

I understand that they are considering ways of using radiation to zap the bacteria without killing the oyster. Anyone know about that?

JeffB wrote:"Southern Cal. in about six weeks where the oysters are great all year round"

?????

I never thought of SoCal as an oyster destination. Any specific locale/kind of oyster?

I wasn't speaking specifically to SoCal varieities of oysters, but of equatorial or southern Pacific oysters which will have a broader (or opposite) seasonality than northeastern or northwestern oysters. SoCal has always been an oyster destination for me since you can get great NW oysters during the winter months or great South Pacific / New Zeland ones during the summer months.

Best,
Michael / EC

"He was a bold man who first eat an oyster," wrote Jonathan Swift. As a native Midwesterner, I confess that oysters on the half shell are a taste that I am still acquiring. I do love oysters Rockefeller (especially the original version, as served at Antoine's), and a variety of other baked oyster preparations, but it's only in the last few years that I've tried many bivavles in the raw.

Things I have learned: There are oysters and then there are oysters. Those who are not sure they love them, especially if texture is an issue, should look for smaller varieties and firmer types. The level of saltiness varies with variety, too. I find I prefer saltier types.

We had a lovely dinner the other night at the new Blue Water Grill.Hideously noisy, but delightful food. We did not have oysters, but I was amused to notice that their list contained several designated as "beginner's oysters."

The ones I would recommend trying are the Kumamoto, a small oyster with a deeply ridged shell that was originally imported from Japan (where it is now extinct), and the Malpeque, an Atlantic variety from Canada.

My oyster condiment of choice is mignonette sauce. I find that the high acid content cuts the richness of the oysters and points up their flavor, unlike horseradish or Tabasco, which merely cover it up.

"Oysters are not really food, but are relished to bully the sated stomach into further eating."

-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Oyster music for your listening pleasure

What are nits, except to be picked?

KMan wrote

Not to pick nits but Appalachicola is Gulf Coast, not East Coast

, and is entirely correct. I meant that I resided on Florida's upper East Coast, not the wonderful bay oysters (although I did consider relocating to be closer to them).

And LAZ quoted

"He was a bold man who first eat an oyster," wrote Jonathan Swift.

Damn it, I hate to get my source attributions wrong. What's your source for Swift? Of course, it sometimes seems as if great observations are like other great ideas thruoghout history, occurring the more than one person near simultaneously.

Cheers,
Wade

Cathy2 wrote:

EC wrote:The crab was definitely a young king, with pretty pliable shells, but tasty meat

A soft shell is a trademark of a recently molted crustacean. The meat does not fill the shell completely as an allowance for future growth.

Yes. but this one was most definitely young. The meat filled the shell, and the legs were rather small overall.

waderoberts wrote:And LAZ quoted

"He was a bold man who first eat an oyster," wrote Jonathan Swift.

Damn it, I hate to get my source attributions wrong. What's your source for Swift? Of course, it sometimes seems as if great observations are like other great ideas thruoghout history, occurring the more than one person near simultaneously.

It's from "Polite Conversation." Here's a reference. I note that I got it slightly wrong: According to Bartlett's, it should be "that first eat," not "who."

Some other interesting Swift quotations on food-related subjects:

Bread is the staff of life.
Tale of a Tub. Preface.

He made it a part of his religion never to say grace to his meat.
Tale of a Tub. Sect. xi.

How we apples swim!
Brother Protestants.

I won’t quarrel with my bread and butter.
Polite Conversation. Dialogue i.

She looks as if butter wou’dn’t melt in her mouth.
Polite Conversation. Dialogue i.

Fingers were made before forks, and hands before knives.
Polite Conversation. Dialogue ii.

I have fed like a farmer: I shall grow as fat as a porpoise.
Polite Conversation. Dialogue ii.

Samuel Johnson was known for feeding oysters to his cat.

Mike,

Maybe not an oyster fan, but you certainly seemed to enjoy, the Prince Consort Crab.



Me, it just doesn't get much better than oysters and tater tots at Davis Street.


Unless it grilled Andouille and tater tots at Davis Street.
]

Enjoy,
Gary

SONG TO OYSTERS

I like to eat an uncooked oyster.
Nothing's slicker, nothing's moister.
Nothing's easier on your gorge
Or when the time comes, to dischorge.
But not to let it too long rest
Within your mouth is always best.
For if your mind dwells on an oyster. . .
Nothing's slicker. Nothing's moister.
I prefer my oyster fried.
Then I'm sure my oyster's died.

Roy Blount Jr.

Can’t say a fried oyster is any more attractive than a raw one though.

These babies were from Frank’s Shrimp House. I really won’t be ordering them again.

Kman wrote:Not to pick nits but Appalachicola is Gulf Coast, not East Coast (I vacation on St. George Island every year). They are mighty fine oysters. .

An award-winning newspaper feature article on Gulf Coast -- Galveston Bay, actually -- and other oysters, including a discussion on polluted waters; long, but worth the read:

http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2004 ... ure_1.html

(Personally, the only way I can swallow an oyster is if it's a Rockefeller.)

Carol wrote:

Kman wrote:Not to pick nits but Appalachicola is Gulf Coast, not East Coast (I vacation on St. George Island every year). They are mighty fine oysters. .

the appalaciacola is technically the east coast oyster, Crassostrea Virginica.

i have never been really impressed with the C. Virginica oyster, it is never as flavorful as the west coast oyster, C. gigas, or the kumamoto oyster ,C. sikamea. IMO, the best oysters in teh world are C.Gigas raised in Alaska. The Belon/flat oyster, ostrea edulis, is VERY tasty too, but they run over 2$ each retail and are too flavorful for most people.

During the summer months, northern oysters are still very good. Prince Edward Island produces the finest C. Virginica and Alaska or Washington produces the finest C. Gigas. An interesting sidenote, the east coast oyster C. Virginica takes well to cultivation on the west coast, and the resulting "west coast bluepoint" is a very good oyster. I personally shy away from gulf oysters; while i have had some that were pretty good, for the most part they are too mild and fleshy for me.

oysters collected in the gulf coast are banned for sale in California.


Erik

Well, IMO, tempranillo tastes better than chardonnay as far as grapes go. I'm often disappointed by the subtle cucumber/banana taste of the visually appealing gigas. Now belons are a different matter. Flinty and fishy, they are not a beginner's oyster. I can see your point about certain farm-raised, clean water-flushed east coast oysters, such as the ubiquitous Blue Point TM. (Which I still enjoy ok.) Wild Gulfs you get from NOLA to Central FL can be very tasty, some might say to a fault.

As you suggest, there is wide variation within the flavor of virginica oysters. Terroir counts. For me, the mud in Apalachicola provides a nice flavor. Maybe it's just the freshness, the beer, and the $.25 oysters, though.

Now, what are the massive, huge, oysters used in Chinese casseroles and available live at Vietnamese markets? I like them just fine, but an oyster that must be sliced into three pieces presents an aesthetic challenge.

PS, here's more on oysters. Based on the info below (which says that gigas are inferior raw, which goes a little too far, IMO) it seems that the massive oysters might just be full-grown gigas. Not mentioned yet are the truly different kumamotos, which I enjoy but are so distinct as to not really be comparable.

http://www.cuisinenet.com/digest/ingred ... ypes.shtml

JeffB,

Our palates, I think, are inextricably linked.

Some people prefer the "cucumber/banana" or what I think of as watermelon w/ hint of 1970's Banana Boat suntan oil flavor of the gigas oyster, but I am not one of those people. I want my oyster to taste like the ocean, not the beach. The virginica oyster tends to taste, depending where they come from, more of the sea - briny but sweet. And the texture, I find more to my liking as well--smaller, firmer.

The last time I went to San Francisco, my plane was late getting in. I was supposed to be meeting friends for dinner at Zuni Cafe, and when I arrived late, they had long been enjoying oysters and martinis. Pigmon, knowing my oyster preferences, encouraged me to try what was already on the table. I ate it - believing it to be an East coast oyster. Curiously, the waiter was pearing over his shoulder from another table, watching me as I ate. And the next time he came over, he asked me how I liked the oysters--and my comment was that they were very fresh - but I was surprised that it was a gigas oyster.

Turns out the waiter and my friends were trying to debunk my supposed preference (that they thought was purely psychological). The waiter told them that this particular west coast oyster (which I can't remember the name of now) tasted just like an East Coast variety, similar to the Malpeque (one of my favorites).

Bottom line is that it just didn't.

Hi. I was hoping someone might catch this in time since I was thinking of going tonight. Does the Davis Street Fishmarket have big-screen tubes a la your average sports bar? I am trying to corral a bunch of knuckle-dragging, slack-jawed southsiders into journeying northwards, but unless the Sox game is on, no dice.

(BTW -- no offense to upright, tight-lipped persons living on the south side, but these are my friends, and I reserve the right to mock them as I see fit)

Hey now -

Next time folks go on and gather at Davis street for oysters, do please give a shout out as I'd love to join you! I'm only 2 blocks away from there

I tend to read LTH in the AM, so PM me if it's a last minute plan and you don't mind some company.

titus wong wrote:Does the Davis Street Fishmarket have big-screen tubes a la your average sports bar?

Titus,

Not big screen, but there are tv's mounted here and there at the oyster bar/bar which are typically turned to sporting events.

Enjoy,
Gary

petit pois and I visited Davis St. this past Saturday to satisfy a last minute "what the heck should we eat" query. Since the "R" months have started again, my internal oyster-alarm clock has been ringing incessantly.

I'm happy to report that the bar at Davis St. was in fine form.

The Malpeques oysters were plump, sweet, tender, and briny enough to not need any garnish. I went back for another half-dozen. The Delaware oysters were interesting, with a distinct lettuce flavor, very tender, but less plump than the Malpeques. Add the fresh-from-the-fryer tater tots, a pound of king crab legs, a bottle of cheap-but-good wine, and the convivial bar atmosphere and you've got yourself one of the finest meals in Evanston.

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:The Malpeques oysters were plump, sweet, tender, and briny enough to not need any garnish. I went back for another half-dozen. The Delaware oysters were interesting, with a distinct lettuce flavor, very tender, but less plump than the Malpeques. Add the fresh-from-the-fryer tater tots, a pound of king crab legs, a bottle of cheap-but-good wine, and the convivial bar atmosphere and you've got yourself one of the finest meals in Evanston.

Michael,

You're preaching to the choir!

In my best, which isn't all that good, Homer Simpson voice, ummmmmmm, Tater Tots and Oysters.

I know where I'll be this Wednesday.

Enjoy,
Gary

Just returned from a fantastic meal at Davis Street Fishmarket. I'm very glad we decided to make the drive up, instead of opting for the more conveniently located Shaw's.

I wish I'd thought to bring a camera - there was way too much great food on our table. The great house-made gumbo simply brimming with crab legs, a half dozen raw oysters made up of 3 Delawares and 3 Salutations, a half dozen oysters Rockefeller, fried shrimp, clam strips (we were in a mood for fried stuff, for some reason) and of course - those magnificent tater tots. Not to devote too much time to the tots, but they were simply the best I'd ever had - even trumping the fabulous ones from Hot Doug's.

We asked about the gulf shrimp and oysters and were told rather honestly that everything's coming from Alaska and Canada, right now. (Not surprising at all.) It didn't negatively impact our meal in the least. Overall the service was quick, helpful, friendly, and rather unobtrusive - sitting in the bar probably made it simpler, as we didn't feel out of place just shouting back and forth with the barman as things were needed. (He was probably only 12 feet away, so it was more like a loud conversation.)

We noticed the outdoor seating again on the way out, and it mostly made us wish we'd ventured up north to try the place sooner.

It was out first time visiting, and we spent the entire time during a stop at a neighborhood bar on the way home praising the virtues of this place. We'll definitely be back.

Pete wrote:...and of course - those magnificent tater tots. Not to devote too much time to the tots, but they were simply the best I'd ever had - even trumping the fabulous ones from Hot Doug's.

Do these places (and other places that serve them, like Silver Cloud) make their own tater tots? Or do they just do something fabulous to normal frozen in the bag tots?

"Gah! Get your own tots!"

leek wrote:

Pete wrote:...and of course - those magnificent tater tots. Not to devote too much time to the tots, but they were simply the best I'd ever had - even trumping the fabulous ones from Hot Doug's.

Do these places (and other places that serve them, like Silver Cloud) make their own tater tots? Or do they just do something fabulous to normal frozen in the bag tots?

I can't say for sure, (petit pois and I had the same discussion), but the ones from Davis Street taste like regular old frozen tots to me.

What makes them so good is the fact that they're fresh from the frier and that they pair so well with cold, raw seafood.

Best,
Michael

I don't believe anyone makes their own tater tots. It's like asking if a breakfast joint frosts its own flakes. Tater tots are an industrial product, probably invented (like Pringles) to use the little stray bits that are left over from making something else. Who knows how they stick together, either? Anyway, as Eatchicago says, it's the place, the freshness and the accompaniment that makes Davis Street's.

Hi,

I have found recipes on the internet for making homemade tater tots. I have yet to make them but I will just so I can say I really made tater tots from scratch.

Earlier this year, Helen and I went to DAvis Street for oysters and tater tots to get a sense of what everyone was talking about. Once we were had everything before us the puzzle to us do we eat the tater tot alone? With our oysters? Alternating bites? I have to say the mystique was lost on us. I know there are many who love the combination, though we were somewhat bewildered.

Regards,