London Oyster Guide: Colin Presdee Selects the Best Places to Enjoy Oysters Across the Capital - Softcover

Colin Pressdee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1905582560 ISBN 13: 9781905582563

Publisher: Graffeg, 2011

Synopsis

London Oyster Guide

About this title

Review

'He was a brave man,' wrote Jonathan Swift, 'who first ate an oyster'. He had a point, Swift. Photogenic they certainly aren't. And an off Belon or Colchester native, once suffered, is very likely to sour your relationship with molluscs for life. Helpfully, the Shellfish Association of Great Britain and food writer Colin Pressdee have toured the capital, Tabasco and oyster fork in hand, to find the 150 best stalls, restaurants and pubs selling oysters and put them in a new book. London Oyster Guide, £12 --Independent, 7 November 2011

I m sure my old English teacher would abhor this, but I m going to come right out with the conclusion at the start: this is one of the best, most informative and well laid out guides I have had the pleasure to review in some time. It opens with a clear and simple contents section, providing just sufficient information to get you started, and delivers from the off. The well known (and very substantial) Charles Campion provides the foreword, and describes a day-long orgy of an oyster sampling trip that few will wish to emulate, but it's an epic tale. Being a guide book there's lots of straightforward information where to go, what you are likely to spend etc, but in amongst this there's plenty of information and pictures for the untutored oyster debutante, which will certainly help save a bit of face in some of the grander locations, as well as help you decide on what to select for your first forays into the world of ostrea edulis (our native round oysters) or the faster growing later arrivals crassostrea angulata (the Pacific, or more commonly named Rock oyster). With the biographical information on some of the main producers, a few simple recipes, and some tasting notes that cover the main types of oyster this book plays well to both the existing enthusiast and the interested novice. --Kensington and Chelsea Today, Nov/Dec 2011

'We re all going to die!' screamed the Daily Mail headline warning us of the dangers of eating oysters. Well okay it didn t quite say that but their general gist was that oysters were very bad for you indeed. Piffle, balderdash and a fluffy finger up to that, as Stephen Fry might say. Oysters are lovely and oysters from reputable suppliers are as safe as safe can be, having been purified before they get to us. So forget the scare stories and cuddle up to an oyster or six, it s one of life s greatest eating pleasures and an example of how simple can so often be the very best. Lift the lid on a briny bivalve and tip it into your mouth, bite gently to release the flavour and then swallow. No, Stephen Fry did not say that, although he might. Colin Pressdee is an oyster aficionado as well as a fine foodie. He was born in the town of Oystermouth, an oyster fishing village dating back to the Romans, so it was perhaps inevitable he d be a mollusc muncher all his life. Indeed he once opened a restaurant called the Oyster Perches. This book, created together with the Shellfish Association of Great Britain, looks at over 150 restaurants, bars, markets, merchants, retailers and producers to be a definitive guide to getting your oyster fix in London. From an intro that explains the difference between Native and Pacific, the seasons for oysters, how to open them (easier than you think) it goes all the way on to how to present them. But why bother when so many restaurants will serve up a glistening plate for you? And so Colin is off, exploring all areas of London for the best of the briniest. Clear address details, nearest tube station and brief description of the restaurant make the guide easy to use. Each restaurant entry also carries a price guide and suggestion for wine. As you eat your oyster, pull the book out of your pocket and mug up on the author's guide to the different styles and tastes offered by the various UK oyster producers; they are all very unique and terroir shines through. And if you do buy a bag to take home, there are recipes in the book to make the most of them. While any oyster eater will tell you raw is best, simply slipped from the shell, there are cooked oyster recipes in the book that offer unusual and interesting pleasures. If you are already an oyster eater, then this book sells itself. If you are still, as some people amazingly are, horrified by the thought of oysters then perhaps Colin s infectious enthusiasm will encourage you to give an oyster a go. Packed with goodness, undoubtedly good for you and very much a UK product to be proud of, oysters open up a whole new world of taste and pleasure. --www.foodepedia.co.uk

About the Author

Colin Pressdee is a writer and broadcaster, regularly presenting on Great Food Live, UKTV Food Channel and BBC Radio Wales. He has written several articles for national press such as the Observer, The Times and BBC Good Food Magazine. He has also been a member of the judging panel at the 'Wales the True Taste Food and Drink Awards' for several years. This fresh take on traditional restaurant guides follows on from the success of his latest cookery book, Food Wales - a second helping.

About this edition

• Publisher: Graffeg
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1905582560
• ISBN 13: 9781905582563
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160