Oysters are, indeed, vastly unappealing as food; however, they’re not trash - they’re excellent water filters.
Imagine opening up a water filter and giving all that goodness inside a good taste
No.
Do it pussy.
Correct, it’s the garbage they store inside their flesh that’s the trash!
I’m uncomfortable with contemplating the idea of oyster flesh.
?
I mean, you should be, because they’re salty gross loogies full of filtered poison, but it’s the whole fucking thing.
I don’t know how to answer this because I feel like the question mark is immediately addressed, heh.
I guess I was confused because “oyster flesh” is just the whole thing? You don’t really have partial cuts of oyster, so you’d have to find the idea of oysters themselves disgusting.
I despise oysters as food but the idea of them existing doesn’t bother me. They’re just a bundle of muscle and organs in a shell, the gross part is eating them.
I mean, that’s a fair assessment. Honestly, the main reasons it bothered me were:
- The idea of consuming the entire body of something disturbs me (I don’t have a valid reason for feeling this while being happy to eat meat, it’s just my subjective reaction)
- While flesh does refer to more than just skin, when I hear the word I think of skin, so I briefly thought of the oyster shell as the flesh, which made me think of harlequin ichthyosis
- Oysters are gross, as we’ve agreed, so I figured being somewhat wry would be funny
If you’re not familiar with the second, I’d recommend not googling it as you’ll likely find some gruesome images. The page I linked does have one somewhat cartoonish depiction of the syndrome, fair warning, but no actual photos.
edit: Converted paragraphs to list format to avoid line break shenanigans.
The reason you have an aversion to eating whole animals is because you can’t distance yourself from the act of choosing to have that animal killed for a delicacy.
When you get a package of meat, most of negative mental impacts of the decision are taken out on slaughterhouse workers, who have tremendously higher rates of depression and anxiety. Put simpler, they have to find ways to deal with the negative emotions that come from the type of work they do.
Thats sort of how paying for stuff always has been, just the distance is father and we’ve figured out how to take the bad feelings and put them on marginalized groups who aren’t us. Bad feelings affect profit.
So if you had to go and point out which animal you want your cut of meat from, you’d likely have the same negative reaction to watching it be butchered as you would putting a whole dead animal in your mouth.
I’m gonna start boiling my old brita filters and selling them as a delicacy.
Weren’t lobsters like that? I remember reading somewhere that only poor people ate them sometime ago, beaches would sometimes get flooded with lobsters
Iirc that’s mostly because they spoiled so quickly. That’s part of why it was inhumane to feed them to prisoners (the other part was they just ground up the entire lobster).
In fact, many religious food restrictions are based on foods that could easily make you sick, like pork.
I think it also had to do with the fact that they’re bottom feeders, as most fish spoil fairly quickly without proper care (though some are definitely worse than others - I think shark starts going bad literally as soon as the shark dies).
Like your second point, many bottom feeders are more likely to have parasites and, therefore, probably built up a reputation as being unfit for eating (though lobsters don’t have any parasites that I’m aware of).
Someone told me they don’t eat pork because the pigs were at the bottom of the ark and and ate the shit of all the other animals and that is since then canon for me, because it’s one of the funniest reasons to not eat pork
My great grandmother grew up rough during the depression and lived near enough you could fish for lobster.
Her family would bury the lobster shells instead of putting them in the trash because they were ashamed the trash collectors might see they were eating sea bugs.
She still definitely enjoyed lobster. When it was in season it was tradition to have a family reunion for lobster dinner, and she boiled a mean sea bug. But she never could fathom even going to a restaurant to order a lobster - and that some people thought it was fancy would make her head explode
You joke with the sea bug jokes but apparently dishes that use bug meat actually are compared to crab and lobster in taste.
But she never could fathom even going to a restaurant to order a lobster - and that some people thought it was fancy would make her head explode
This makes me think of how shredded tuna has become very expensive during my lifetime. It’s still not super expensive but it’s not dirt cheap either.
I’m thinking that when I’m old, will I see fancy restaurants serving spaghetti with shredded tuna, accompanied with real parmesan.
As it used to cost like some cents or something. Like 60 cents € or something for a can, whereas now it’s more than 2€.
Hehe, sea bugs.
Lobster shells really should go back in the sea. Recycle that calcium (?).
I chunk many of my shells in the tiny ponds around the house (not too many though, they only range from 15 to 70 gallons). Calcium dissolves back into the water and tiny animals get a free meal, bolstering the bottom of the food chain.
Also used to throw a shell or three in my fish tanks so the snails could pull dissolved calcium.
Aren’t they great for composting too?
Yes, I imagine they’re mostly calcium, like eggshells, thus alkaline and great for maintaining the ph balance of compost and worm farms (when ground).
Lobster fishermans grandson here. This was the case in our area.
They were fed to prisoners
same with quinoa, price went up so much that people started cultivating it outside of its native south America and then the price plummeted so bad that it caused financial devastation among farmers
Iirc lobsters can become much much larger than the ones we eat which are lil babies (competitively speaking). The 2 or so lb lobsters we see are like 5yo but lobsters can live to be 100+ and 15lbs or sumsuch. Maybe the old crotchety ones folks ate back didn’t taste as good?
say that to a yinglet [fictional] ;)
Pizza
“Yeah. I really do want a big salty lugee in my mouth” ~ Oyster Enjoyers
For real, that big salty lugee is great! Did you know they’re actually alive when you eat them? They also don’t have pain receptors IIRC so they’re a very ethical source of protein. - actual oyster enjoyer
I like them on occasion, but I prefer them smoked, I think it does wonders to the natural flavors.
I’d much rather have mussels though (not raw, boiled). Mussels in a oil pasta is fantastic.
Smoked is very good too.
Mussels are different. Both are good, but yeah mussels are better as part of a dish, especially with a lot of butter.
ethical
You eat them alive
🤔
Lol I’m not a fan of seafood but I’ve always found it unnerving that they have eyes
Make sure to only eat oysters fed a strict vegan diet, then you’re all clear.
so do potatoes
And babies.
I am not a big fan of raw oysters, but if you bake them in the oven with breadcrumbs, cheese and a sauce, they are delicious
I mean… The bread, cheese and sauce is doing a lot of heavy lifting here… Using those 3 you can almost throw anything else in there and it’ll be decent.
Essentially “it can be palatable if hidden in pizza”.
Or smoke them. Canned, smoked oysters are fantastic.
Pineapples were also a sign of wealth.
There was a time when people would rent a pineapple to just sit on the table at a party.
Why is Gamora?
It’s good to know that, at least in this one instance, someone else’s brain does free association on references just like mine does.
I view the world through a collection of thousands of movie quotes.
When we met, my then-not-wife referred to me as a reference sponge.
Have you watched the new Time Bandits show on Apple TV? It’s based on the old movie. There’s a whole episode where they fall into a 1700s French socialite party where the Earl of Sandwich–or whatever his name is–has rented a pineapple in order to have a pineapple viewing party. The episode was one of the funniest ones this season, highly recommend it.
I only saw the first episode, it was ok but it felt too childish for my taste.
It definitely improves from there since pilots have to spend time introducing the world, characters, etc. But yeah, if you don’t like British/New Zealand style humor, particularly that which pays much homage to Monty Python and Terry Gilliam movies, then it won’t be appealing.
Making a note for later…
homage to Monty Python and Terry Gilliam movies
Ok, i’m listening
Great, yet another show I really want to watch.
People here will probably soon start thinking I’m an Apple shill with all the comments I make, but IMO, TV+ has tons of great original content. Definitely recommend taking a peek at their shows. And the movies.
Of course, nobody says you have to pay for it. Yarr!
Apple+ has consistently been putting out some great shows. Severance is one of my favorite shows of the last few years, it’s frustrating that season 2 has taken so long to come back. Foundation is also great, despite it absolutely butchering the source material I still found it to be entertaining, especially the scenes with the Emperor clones. Ted Lasso is of course some fantastic comedy. Monarch was awesome, really enjoyed that Godzilla spin-off. There are probably a few others I can’t recall off the top of my head.
I’m really enjoying Bad Monkey right now. Might be the first time I find Vince Vaughn relatable, but that might just be because I’m also a lazy sarcastic prick.
The last days of Ptolemy Gray was a good one.
I didn’t think I’d like The Morning Show, but I ended up getting pretty invested, as there’s a lot of office politics.
Acapulco is funny and I love that in his rose-tinted glasses memories, the resort is literally pink.
Honorable mentions: Shantaram, City on Fire, The Silo… And there have been others I’ve enjoyed. There was a period where I had a solid 5 shows to watch every week, all on Apple TV.
Oysters never tasted good to me. The whole GoT plot in season 7 with the Oyster selling girl stalking people throughout the city, and into a brothel never made sense to me… Who buys oysters, as a impulse snack? Crazy
They used to be a really common snack for rich and poor in coastal areas.
The modern equivalent would be a rolling hot dog stand.
Except even more practical and simple to produce/distribute in that … its a coastal town with a good deal of fishing and aquaculture and whatnot going on.
Arya would just have to go to the docks, find somebody with a huge bag of oysters and say hey, gimme a cart, i’ll go roam around and sell these before they spoil, you keep 80 or 90% of the money when i come back with the empty cart.
In that sense its basically a farmers market: extremely local goods.
Modern hot dogs have to be manufactured in a factory and then sold to a hot dog stand operator, shipped halfway across the country or world.
hey, gimme a cart, i’ll go roam around and sell these before they spoil, you keep 80 or 90% of the money when i come back with the empty cart.
Tell you what: I’ll give you a time traveling device and the ability to jump into any fictional world that has ever existed.
Find me one where they would accept that “deal” if you didn’t pay up front.
Ice Cream truck drivers
Mate, if you’ve met an ice cream truck driver who’d just let you walk away with all their goods and a promise that you’d pay them back, I need to know where you live. I want in on that.
No, the point is that the driver could just drive away with the truck and its contents and attempt to sell the truck, strip it for parts or whole, fucking over whatever entity is paying his wage.
I mean yes, initially it is risky, but perhaps a contract was signed, or perhaps the oyster owner owns so many that he sells to local restaurants or market vendors that he figures worst that happens is i lose 2% of my regular oyster haul, best that happens i make a bit more money off of that 2%.
If I am not mistaken the actual episode(s?) where Arya does the oyster selling show a relationship between her and whoever she’s getting the oysters from.
As far as real world examples: anyone who has ever been hired to drive a cart or wagon or car could just attempt to make off with the vehicle and/or its belongings…
Into the brothel makes sense because they have been considered an aphrodisiac.
Oysters were supposedly an aphrodisiac. They aren’t but it’s been one of those old wives’ tales since before I was born.
Eel as well.
I find both gross!
More for me then. :)
F E R M E N T E D C R A B
I love ousters in all forms. Raw on the half shell, smoked, deep fried, Rockefeller. They sre such tasty little animals
I heard s things in NYC was the immigrants could look for work, and if they didn’t find anything they could go to the shore, get enough oysters to survive, and keep going.
So common, NYC streets were often paved with a mix of oyster shells.
That must’ve been giving off a wonderful aroma. Especially combined with the cholera squirts of the era and ever present urine stank
Local oyster place chunked the shells outside, covered the parking lot in fact. Attracted quite a feral cat population, but it didn’t stink.
Also, I think you’re confusing modern “stink” vs. 1800s NYC “stink”.
So apparently that piss smell wasn’t actually from the open sewage.
It was because before cars took over horses were the primary mode of transport for people who could afford it, and horse piss is absolutely rancid smelling if it lands on something that doesn’t just absorb it like dirt or soil.
King Louis XIV loved oysters and was importing them from the coast to his palace in Versailles.
And lobster.
They are still trash food. So are lobsters.
People who like lobster just like butter and don’t want to drink melted butter
Lobsters are delicious and butter is not even in many of the ways we eat them
Agreed. I’m happy with having them steamed with a little lemon spritzed on top. They’re basically big, soft shrimp.
Lobster used to be considered a poor man’s food.
Poor people had to live on sea bugs.
First person to cook with oysters was one hungry motherfucker
Indigenous Americans ate oysters for thousands of years. I guess they were okay with them because it’s not like coastal North America was devoid of other food sources.
I can take or leave oysters, but I used to get fried clams at Long John Silver’s and they were the shit.
I like oysters, but like… 4 per week is fine. If it was staple food for me, I’d cry myself asleep every night.
Yup. I prefer them smoked, so I get a can a couple times per year. I honestly don’t want more than that.
But when it comes to mussels, load me up! I could eat those multiple times a week and not get bored of them.
The most oysters I’ve ever had was three dozen, in the Baja coastal town of San Quintin. You told the man wearing rubber pants to the waist how many you wanted, he’d wade into the water with a machete in hand, hacked at what essentially was a rock of bunched-up oysters, then waded back to the shore.
He’d plop that heap of oysters on a wooden table, give you a shucking knife, a bunch of lemons, Salsa Búfalo (not for buffalo wings, it was a brand of smoky hot sauce) and salt crackers.
If they had a blue ribbon that said “I ate like a pig in San Quintin”, I am not ashamed to say I would have earned it.
You just reminded me of the crab at Cielito Lindo, a massive pile of legs and claws drowned in spiced butter, a couple of Pacificos with the meal and a glass of Presidente brandy to cap it off. ¡El sabor!
