Mr Claude Bosi of London’s Bibendum shares his tips for serving bivalves.

London’s iconic Bibendum restaurant, famous for its oyster bar, reopened recently under the supervision of Michelin-starred French chef Mr Claude Bosi. To help celebrate, we asked him how he likes his bivalves.

I love oysters, and I am a big fan of rock oysters in particular. I don’t really like natives as much, for some reason. The best I’ve eaten were in Ireland at a festival near Galway. At the moment, the season is still good for natives – but thankfully, it’s better for rock oysters, such as Jerseys and Maldons. We source our oysters for Bibendum from Wright Brothers. We don’t need to ask them for what we want; we just take what they have, so we know they’re as fresh as possible.

You can eat oysters cold, hot, warm – and there are so many different things you can do, but here are three simple ways to prepare them. Just serve with a good riesling or muscadet.

Oyster soup is very classic, and it gives you the full flavour of the oyster. All you need to do is make a nice fish stock, or maybe even a warm Japanese dashi. Open your oysters raw. For a soup, you would need about five oysters per person. Put your raw oysters inside a mixer and blend them. When they’re in the mixer, boil the stock. Once it’s boiled, just mix it with the oysters. Then, you can serve it with more raw oysters, crusty bread, or with a bit of watercress.

I love eating oysters raw. Some people like lemon, or shallot vinegar on top. However, this introduces a lot of acidity, whereas I think all you need is a little heat. I go for a bit of ground black pepper. That’s it: perfect. There is a lot of salt content in the oyster, so a bit of heat gives a good balance. A classic combination of salt and pepper. You could even go for a pinch of chilli if you prefer. When you eat oysters raw, despite what some people say, you must chew them, instead of simply swallowing, to get the full flavour.

First, make a nice “green crumb”. Do this by using lemon zest, parsley, fresh breadcrumbs, and add a bit of English mustard powder. Open your oysters, and place the mixture on top of them. Then, add a bit of olive oil, and place them under the grill. Grill them until the top layer is a little firm, and the breadcrumbs have caramelised. It’s a similar method to Rockefeller oysters, which you might be familiar with, but that uses spinach. I used to use this method with mussels in the south of France and it’s just as good with oysters.

bibendum.co.uk

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