Oysters on the barbie

Close to Vancouver we have a group of islands known as the Gulf Islands, the largest and most populous of which is Salt Spring. There are others which are smaller and quieter, including tiny Denman, not often featured on tourist sites but beautiful nonetheless. Our neighbour was fortunate enough to live there and on a recent trip back she collected a whole bag full of oysters plucked straight from the ocean. 

She told us of how they would frequently collect them to eat on the beach, carrying fuel and a few other essentials such as butter and lemons to cook them there and then. Visiting guests would request fresh seafood as a treat instead of the steaks that she had been craving, seafood more of an everyday meal solution. She offered us a taste of this idyllic life by gifting us some along with full instructions on how to BBQ them and they were the most delicious oysters I have ever tasted. With not the slightest hint of fishiness, they simply tasted like the ocean, briny, salty and slightly caramelised with brown butter, garlic, shallot and lime juice.

Recipe : Barbecued Oysters with butter, shallots and garlic

Enough for 2 with a salad, some potatoes and of course bread to mop up the juice

6 large live oysters

6 tsp butter

2 small shallots, peeled and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

juice of one lime

Crank your gas barbecue up to high direct heat or the get your charcoal glowing white. Make sure your oysters are all tightly shut, (alive) and place them, scoop side down, directly onto the barbecue grills. If they are fresh out of the ocean like ours, they will probably have many small mussels and barnacles clinging to their shells. These will sputter, splurt and possibly torpedo off, so watch your eyes. After about 15 minutes, the oysters should begin to open. (Ours didn't and I had to call our neighbour over to pry them open with her trusty knife). Once they have opened enough for you to see inside, slip a tsp of butter along with a scattering of shallot and garlic inside and move to an area of your grill with indirect heat.

Let your oysters saute for another 10 minutes or so to allow the butter to melt and start to brown and the shallot and garlic to become fragranced and soft. Remove from the grill and prise the top shell from each oyster being careful not to disturb any of the juices. Squeeze the lime juice over.

The oysters we enjoy here in the Pacific North West are said to be excellent and I have tasted several species raw in restaurants which were very good. These, however, really hit the spot and even though they were eaten on an urban roof deck a few miles from the ocean and not on a beach on a beautiful tiny island, I could still smell and taste the sea.