Oysters!

It is no secret that I love oysters.

They are a part of pretty much every Waskom family celebration

(during the "R" months) and they were just about the only thing

I truly missed while I was pregnant with Dixon.

 

It's strange, then, that it took me so long to go to Thames Street Oyster House.

(Especially considering that our friend and neighbor, Teresa, works there.)

 

Last week, after Kathy and Neal's book launch party at Chazz,

Cooper and I found ourselves with a babysitter and a little time to kill,

so we headed over to Fells.

 

And we were so glad we did! In addition to a few amazing appetizers -

grilled octopus over peperonata and chapa
(bread topped with pork, blue cheese and onions) -

we had a dozen fantastic oysters: 

I have eaten a lot of oysters - but this dozen was one of my favorites.

For one thing, they were super cold.

 

But also, this was the first bona fide oyster tasting I'd done.

When we sat down, the hostess gave us this little sheet:

 

We marked our selections, sushi-style.

Then when we ate, we found ourselves comparing the flavors,

like we were tasting wine.

 

The descriptions were dead-on, too. The Elkhorn Giants? Not only

were they enormous, they were also crazy metallic,

just like the paper said they'd be. (As it turns out, neither of us

is a huge fan of metallic oysters.)

 

And the Gigamotos, the little round guys to the right of the Giants?

They really did taste like melon! And that was a good thing.

They were among my favorites.

 

But you know what the biggest surprise was?

My favorite oysters...were the Choptank Sweets.

 

I guess I really am a Maryland girl at heart.