Oyster in the rye

Among the traditions practiced during le réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre (New Year's Eve) in France is the eating of huîtres (oysters). I'll bet that the largest sales of oysters in the nation happen during the end-of-year holiday celebrations. Ken and I did our part, getting two dozen oysters for our New Year's Eve meal, along with a mess of shrimp.

My home-made cocktail rye bread, without caraway seeds. I will make this again.

Oysters are traditionally eaten raw, on the half shell, with une sauce mignonette (vinegar, shallot, and black pepper) or lemon. Along with them you will often have small slices of rye bread spread with butter. I had some rye flour in the house, so I decided to make my own rye bread. It worked out well, and we gobbled most of it up with our oysters and shrimp.

Fresh oysters, ready for steaming, or just opening and eating as they are.

We cheated a little with the oysters and opened them by lightly steaming them in a hot oven. They come out not quite raw, but also not quite cooked. They were delicious, and a lot easier to open than raw oysters. We ate the shrimp with a basil-flavored mayonnaise. I didn't take any photos of those, but they were very tasty. Today we will have our traditional New Year's Day meal of black-eyed peas made in the style of a southwestern French cassoulet, with duck confit, sausages, and pork.

Happy New Year!