Holiday trays (part 1)

Since the dawn of time

Oysters, langoustines, lobsters… They are essential at festive tables. Their consumption dates back at least to prehistoric times. The oldest traces found come from the Torremolinos cave in Andalusia, on the shores of the Mediterranean, and prove that Homo sapiens and Neanderthals already consumed shells more than 150,000 years ago.
Today, France is one of the largest consumers of oysters in the world (more than 100,000 tons/year). If their freshness remains between October and April, it seems that the custom of consuming them during the holidays is a matter of logistics. Indeed, at the beginning of the twentieth century, refrigerated trucks did not exist, in fact, they were transported mainly in winter so that they would not be damaged. Ditto for other seafood.

Oyster sizes

To choose your oysters, there is a simple rule: the size of an oyster is determined from 0 to 5 for cupped oysters and from 000 to 6 for flat oysters. More
The number is small, the higher the caliber. The French prefer the 4, 3 and 2. The
Small are loved as an aperitif, the medium ones presented on a tray for a meal, and the big ones are perfect to cook (stuffed, au gratin or as a dish). We can also refer to the flesh index between 6.5% and 10% for medium-fleshy ones, and more than 10.5% for special stages.

To know if an oyster is fresh

When buying, it must be checked that the bourriche bears a sanitary label mentioning the origin, the name of the producer and the date of packaging. Oysters must be tightly closed. At the opening, they should not be dry but alive, and retract under the tip of the knife or with the acidity of lemon. And above all, smell is an essential and instinctive criterion: oysters must “smell good”, freshness, and not have too strong a smell. When in doubt, it is better not to take a risk.

The benefits of seafood

If there is one dish that can be used again, it is the seafood platter. They are good all the way. Excellent for health, they contain no sugars or fats, and are a natural appetite suppressant that will help you moderate yourself for the rest of the meal. On the one hand, they are full of vitamins, including vitamin D, which is often lacking in winter, and those useful for memory; On the other hand, they are rich in minerals and trace elements essential for the regulation of the body and the immune system, such as magnesium, zinc, iron, copper, iodine, potassium, selenium and omega 3.

Are seafood aphrodisiacs?

This is not an urban legend, seafood helps increase sexual desire. Potassium, zinc and the trace elements they contain, tone the body and stimulate the production of testosterone. Histidine, vitamin B12 and iodine “excite” erogenous zones. Since these foods are easy to digest, desire is not inhibited by intestinal transit, and the vitamins and proteins contained in seafood also improve blood flow.