9 -12 PER PERSON

Serve 6 each if there is a big meal to come, but oyster lovers like a lot! Order the oysters and ask for them to be opened only when you collect them, or as late as possible. Keep refrigerated until serving but no longer than 24 hours. If the fishmonger has not loosened the oysters from the bottom shell, do so with a sharp knife. Check that there are no bits of shell or grit on the saucer-shaped bottom shells, but leave any sea water or juices with them. Discard the top shells. Put the oysters on to oyster plates, or failing them, on to dinner plates covered by a napkin to keep them from tipping or rolling, Hand Tabasco sauce, or chilli pepper, freshly ground black pepper, white pepper, wedges of lemon and vinegar separately, and serve with brown bread and butter. The diner eats the oysters with a fork, and drinks the juice from the shell as from a cup.

Wine: DRY WHITE

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Excerpt from Leiths Cookery Bible

[Leith, P., and Waldegrave, C., (2003), Leiths Cookery Bible, 3rd edition, Bloomburys, UK]