It’s a tiny place, done up like a sea shack, complete with singing Billy Bass on the walls, wood floor and a sign Peche Interdite. Luckily, they don’t play Billy Bass’s ‘Take me to the River’ in English or otherwise. On the menu is oysters, oysters and more oysters – and sublime home made puds. A set lunch is euros 17 per person and you get a platter of oysters, local sausage and a desert. This goes well with the house carafe of white wine which is more than OK, or a labelled bottle if you fancy. I’m a marine eating veggie, so I just had more oysters.
So what about oysters. Size 1 is the biggest and size 4 is the smallest on the menu. Two types were served that day, La Quiberon (from deep water) and the famous Marennes Pousse en Claire (harvested in less salty water). Avoid oysters that go by the name L’Ifremer or Satmar – these two varieties are genetically modified, though these aren’t sold in this establishment.
Quiberon oysters are raised in deep water irrigated twice daily by the Saint-Philbert river and waters of the Quiberon bay. Delicious, saltier than the oysters from Marennes-Oleron, sturdy and deeply rewarding.
The oysters from Marennes-Oleron are famous the world over for their quality and taste which is perfected in the last phase of growth by an algae that give the oyster a feint green colour. It’s the balance of the waters and this green algae that penetrates the shell to give it a beautiful colour and specific aroma after its three years in the sea that makes these oysters so perfect. If, in addition, the oyster carries the Red Label, then stand by for total perfection.
The categories sold are Fines de claires and Speciales de claires. Be aware also that the name has been pinched on certain occasions – the intellectual property nicked – but the quality of the product still has to be up to scratch. If your French is good, you can asked the maitres if the oysters do actually come from the Marennes-Oleron basin, I’ll bet you that they are. The ‘pousse en claire’ oysters are left longer in their beds and have a restricted number growing in each metre square – usually only 5 or 6. The difference between ‘la speciale’ and the ‘fines de claire’ is that the former’s shell is more concave which gives a good volume and more marked consistency of flesh, and a more remarkable saline balance than the latter. But that’s just getting into show-off territory.
The maitres in La Boite a Huites can tell you all about the oysters they have that day. I just love them, so that’s why I like to know more about them.
As for the Grand Theatre in Bordeaux, former haunt of Toulouse Lautrec, well the exterior building is powerful; the interior chandelier beautiful, but the renovated décor is a bit too shiny for me. It’s still worth a visit, especially if you have stocked up previously on the oyster and champagne front down the road. Afterwards there’s the Café Des Artistes – but that’s another story.
Labels: Oysters
posted by French Deal @ 11:47 am
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