Huîtres

This weekend I took advantage of the beautiful, warm and sunny spring weather and headed to the Normandy coast. I visited the stunning Mont Saint Michel (for photos please visit my website at www.janmcintyre.ca). I then headed to the seaside town of Ouistreham for a dinner of “plateau de fruits de mer” at Le Metropolitan, a restaurant with the décor of an antique Paris Metro car. In the morning I headed to the local Marché de poisssons to buy fresh seafood – huîtres de Normandie, palourds, crevettes roses, pétoncles et moules (oysters, clams, shrimp, bay scallops and mussels). I made a quick trip to the Normadie Wine Warehouse http://www.normandiewine.com to pick up a few bottles at bargain prices to restock my cave. The fresh seafood safely tucked away in the cooler (with bags of frozen peas to keep everything chilled), I headed to Deauville for a stroll along the famous boardwalk followed by lunch at the Bar du Soleil. It was another perfect weather day as I sat outside with all the beautiful people eating oysters and a delicious Salmon Caesar Salad.

Huîtres

Oysters are a healthy product. They are low in calories and packed with vitamins and minerals: Vitamins A, B, C, D calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, iron, zinc, copper, selenium, iodine
Oysters are graded by size: The lower the number, the larger the oyster. N° 00 is the largest and n°5 is the smallest.

Chez Jan oysters are served raw on the half shell on ice accompanied with bread and butter, lemon, vinaigre à l’échalote, Tabasco and other hot pepper sauces.
Suggested wines: Champagne, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie, Chablis, Petit Chablis