A stall suddenly appeared in the State Park next to our harbor.  It was called ‘The Jolly Oyster’ and sold oysters and clams shipped almost daily from a farm in Mexico.  The freshest tastiest we have experienced anywhere in the world.  They deserve every success. A couple of weeks after the Jolly Oyster appeared in our lives, I was asked to put on a cooking demonstration in a local club.  We created this dish just for that event and everyone loved it.  Purists might say that oysters this fresh should be eaten with absolutely no additions or dressings and that’s the wonderful thing about cooking – everything is personal.

Note: In the picture you’ll notice a garnish of lemon and lime zest on the oyster that we were testing.  We found that even though it looked pretty, the texture of the citrus zest distracted from the silkiness of the oyster.

You’ll need:

16-24 Oysters
1 Mango
1 oz. Tequila
½ oz. Triple Sec
¼ oz. Lime Juice

What you do:

Peel the mango and cut it into chunks.  Put the mango, the tequila, the triple sec and the lime juice in a blender and purée until smooth, approximately a minute.

Shuck the oysters.  Serve each oyster on the half shell with half a teaspoon of the margarita purée.

John’s Wine Pairing:

I’m not recommending a wine to go with this dish because it’s almost impossible to complement all the margarita flavors.  However, I am recommending two beers from the Surf Brewery.  The first is Mondo’s, which is light, creamy and combines a slight sweetness with a good hop concentration.  Eminently quaffable, in my view.  The second beer is a Dubbel Belgian, hearty, full, malty and on the sweet side.  It has a luscious long-lasting taste which works very well with the salinity of the oysters and the sweetness of the margarita blend.