THIONVILLE. Choose your oysters well and avoid looking like a basket

La Marée Bretonne, located 18 rue de l’Ancien-Hôpital, is a venerable commercial lighthouse that has existed, against all odds, since 1963, when the Charazac couple disembarked in Thionville. It is their son Bernard and his wife Nathalie who took over the family ship in 1986. But if he has retired, this old sea bass does not hesitate to come and lend a strong fin if necessary to his mate of a woman. “Usually there are four of us at the store, but during the holidays we went to eight. I would have liked two more employees but I was unable to recruit them. It was mainly family members who came to give us a hand, ”says Nathalie. For her, the holidays are like Easter for chocolate makers or Mother’s Day for florists, the annual meeting where you shouldn’t miss out. Lobster, crab, lobster, and other saints Jacques will undoubtedly be on the majority of tables on New Year’s Eve. With the essential oysters, the queens of New Year’s Eve. But how to choose them, if you do not want to spend a basket with your guests?

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Number 4 is the smallest

“Already, we must ensure that they are well closed, that they do not yawn,” warns Nathalie. “Next, look at the sanitary date that must be written on the basket and corresponds to the release of the water from the oysters. These can be kept for ten days, so if the date exceeds these ten days, it is better to abstain. Finally, contrary to popular belief, do not store your keepnets outside, on your windowsill or your balcony. Because if it ever freezes, your oysters, which are living mollusks, will die. Better to keep them either in the fridge or in a garage but not in a place below 10 ° C. And what about sizes and varieties? “The size of the oysters varies from 0 to 4, 4 being, it doesn’t make a lot of sense, I agree, the smallest size. In terms of variety, it is also necessary to distinguish white oysters, the most classic, from green oysters, which due to their plankton load have a more salty taste. Nathalie notes that so-called “special” oysters, such as Isigny, Gillardeau or Ancelin, “are back in fashion”. A “special” oyster is a shell that has been matured for 6 to 8 months in freshwater tanks. “But the best is the Cristal. It is a very fleshy oyster, with a nutty taste in the mouth. It is very pleasantly soft, ”Nathalie salivates just to think about it. On the other hand, the Belon, a flat and round oyster, is losing ground. “We have no more orders for this product,” she notes.

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At what price ?

“The prices vary according to the quality”, does not get too wet Nathalie. “It goes from € 12 up to € 28 a dozen. »And how to taste them? No need to innovate in this area according to Nathalie: “Rye bread, salted butter, lemon juice, and why not a little vinegar and shallot sauce. For wine, Nathalie recommends an Entre-Deux-Mers or a Pinot Blanc from Alsace, or even a Riesling. It remains, in order not to end up in the emergency room of Bel-Air, to control their opening once and for all. “Take the heel always in the palm of the hand. Then you count three fingers from left to right and you slide the tip of the knife blade once towards you and once towards the outside in order to cut the tendon. It’s infallible, ”says Nathalie. On your marks, get set, dive in!

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