By Laura Chávez Silverman
Laura Silverman is the naturalist, forager, teacher, and writer behind The Outside Institute. Until she no longer had the time, Laura wrote Salt of the Earth, a recipe-based column for Edible Hudson Valley/Edible Westchester that explored natural and holistic foods. That said, this time around, she just wrote about oysters!
The doctrine of signatures, a fundamental theory of folk medicine since the Middle Ages, posits that there is a healing synergy between natural objects and the parts of the body they resemble. Thus, the furled and bifurcated walnut supports brain function. The tomato, arterial-red and enclosing four chambers, is good for the heart. And the oyster, well, some say it tickles the nether regions.
One study found a particular amino acid in shellfish increased the level of sex hormones in lab rats; another says it boosts testosterone in sedentary men. Bivalves definitely contain zinc, essential for testosterone production, and serotonin, which is inarguably linked to the pleasure response. And who can deny that a mess of fresh oysters—sluiced in salinity, topped with an icy burst of spice and washed down with buckets of Champagne—would make even the most dedicated couch potato stand up and take notice?
Oysters with Cucumber Chile Granita
Serves 4-6
2 pounds English cucumbers
⅓ cup lime juice
½ cup sugar
1 dried New Mexico chile
2 dried chipotle chiles
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh oysters on the half shell
Remove and discard ⅔ of the peel from the cucumbers. Coarsely chop, then purée in a blender until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, pushing some of the pulp out with the juice to make 2½ cups.
Combine the lime juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Crush the dried peppers and add them to the pan, seeds and all. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the stove and cool slightly, then strain into the cucumber base. Stir in the salt.
Spread mixture in a large shallow dish and place in the freezer. After 30 minutes, and every 30 minutes thereafter, rake the tines of a fork across the surface to break up the ice crystals until mixture is fully frozen and fluffy. Top each oyster with a dollop of granita.
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