Oysters as Love Potion #9...Fact or Fiction plus Mouth on Fire Dipping Sauce

      ~Human beings have been documented harvesting oysters for their luscious goodness and love potion potential for over 6,000 years…that’s a lot of date nights and anniversaries!  So is it cliche or fact?  One thing that gives oysters some carnal credibility is they are packed with zinc.  Zinc controls progesterone levels, so foods rich in zinc would naturally boost the libido.  They are also considered to be “sexually suggestive” because of their shape.  Shellfish tends to resemble parts of the female anatomy, a theory that can be supported by trying to get an eleven year old boy to eat a steamed clam.

      

     One of my prized kitchen tools is a hand-forged, bone handled oyster knife.  I used to think I was a pretty fair shucker until I attended some seafood festivals in Maryland and watched seasoned experts knock out hundreds an hour, all without a single bloody, skinned knuckle.        

     

     Personally, I am a raw out of the shell, lemon juice and a dash of hot sauce purist at heart.   Raw, out of a shot glass with a little pepper vodka and a squirt of lemon can be pretty nice too.  But on one special day at a local Oregon seafood festival I learned a wonderful trick…put the oysters, whole in their shell, on the barbeque…after about 10 minutes or so, they will be steamed, open, and delicious…no muss no fuss.  Of course, cooking oysters versus eating them raw means that now the previously squeamish will be suddenly much more interested, so be sure to increase your quantity accordingly if you wish to avoid giving up your share.

   

    Chili peppers  always seem like a natural oyster partner.  Taste and effect.  They will make you feel like your first junior high slow dance...endorphins pumping, heartbeat racing, and a little hot and sweaty.

     

Smoky Mouth on Fire Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1 cup jalapeno jelly

2 tbsp chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced

2 tbsp red onion, minced

1 tsp salt

Mix the red wine vinegar and jelly together until blended.

Stir in the chipotle peppers, onion and salt…and dip.

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/swamibu/1854640742/">Swamibu</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>