Cancale Oysters

Oyster stand 

On my trip to France, I also went to Cancale, a commune in Brittany (North West of France). 

It is known for its fresh oysters, grown and collected there. You can buy them at stands and eat them right by the sea! (Freshness guaranteed!) It is also very cheap there, costing only 50 cents to have them opened. Many people just buy them and munch them away, throwing the shell away on the sand.

Oysters munched by everyone

I could obviously not go there without eating oysters... I hadn't eaten them in about 10 years and was not sure I would like them... 

I ordered 6 of them for lunch as a starter and turns out I LOVED THEM. It was so fresh and you could really taste the salt of the ocean. For those who don't like sea food, I wouldn't recommend though... :P
You eat them with a small special fork.


They were accompanied with some sliced bread, salted butter, lemon and a shallot based vinaigrette. Some people like to eat oysters by putting the shallot or lemon juice but I was always told that it kills the real taste of the oyster. It has such a special flavor that it would be a pity to drown the poor creature in lemon juice!
As a drink, the best would be some white wine (as I did) or pour the leftover sea water from your oyster into a glass and chug it at the end (apparently very healthy)!