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Blog
Don't be shellfish on Valentine's
Posted Monday, 6 February 2012 / Written by The Twig
Valentines Day is not far away and, by a happy coincidence for romantically inclined seasonal food fans, rock oysters are great in February. Oysters are famed, as we all know, for being an aphrodisiac. A number of theories account for their romantic reputation including a high zinc content and even, according to some, sympathetic magic. However, without wanting to dampen any amorous embers, there is still very little verifiable evidence that aphrodisiacs of any kind actually work. That said, oysters are an extremely well balanced and low-cholesterol food and they are an excellent source of vitamins. Perhaps oyster-eating ancients were just healthier specimens whom more suitors were willing to snuggle up to? Author Jonathan Swift is quoted as saying, "He was a bold man that first ate an oyster", and that is true - at first glance you wouldn't think they were particularly edible, let alone delicious. But, for thousands of years man has bitten the bivalvular bullet and eaten them with gusto. They've been farmed in the UK for much longer than you might think too, with good evidence that the Whitstable oyster farming tradition dates back to Roman times. You'll find oysters in most decent fish markets and many producers are now selling online with several doing Valentines specials. So, if you don't know what to buy your loved one for the 14th how about a plate of highly calcified plankton-filtering molluscs - what could be unromantic about that?
