Ode to the perfect winter dish
You rarely find seafood on a barbecue-joint menu for good reason. Unlike the muscular flavor and texture of pork and beef, the culinary qualities of seafood are more subtle.
Blasting a piece of fish with wave after wave of heat and smoke would yield predictable results. Imagine placing a filet of Dover sole next to a typical 12pound brisket on the rack of an offset smoker and cooking it for 12 hours. The filet would mostly vaporize after 12 minutes, much less 12 hours.
Still, there are some traditional dishes that combine barbecue and seafood, even if it is in name only. Barbecue crabs are a Southeast Texas original, though they are actually deep-fried with a barbecuelike seasoning rather than smoked. And no trip to New Orleans would be complete without a visit to Mr. B’s Bistro to order a bowl of Barbequed Shrimp, which again takes its name from the spicy seasoning rather than the preparation (they are sautéed, not smoked).
However, one dish faithfully combines the fire and smoke of barbecue with a classic regional seafood ingredient: grilled oysters.
The recipe is simple. Take a Gulf Coast oyster on the halfshell and place it on a wood-fired grill. Ladle on a mixture of melted butter, garlic and grated Parmesan cheese and let it cook for a few minutes until the oyster begins to curl and the butter mixture is bubbling. Plate and serve.
The combination of the oyster meat and juice (liquor) with the butter mixture and the smoky flavor that’s picked up through grilling is one of my favorite winter dishes. The weeks after New Year’s Day are peak oyster season and the best time to enjoy both raw and grilled versions.
What’s unique about oysters that makes them amenable to a grilling preparation? One clarification is needed here. The best grilled oysters aren’t just any oysters — they are Gulf Coast oysters.
The Crassostrea virginica, as the Gulf Coast oyster is scientifically known, is among the largest and meatiest of all oysters. It is one of the few oyster species with the flavor and anatomy to stand up to grilling. Unlike many of the smaller and daintier oysters harvested in Europe, Japan and the West Coast of the U.S., Gulf Coast oysters are big and brawny.
“As long as a hundred-dollar bill” is a phrase often used to describe a Gulf Coast oyster in season. Unlike some smaller Pacific oysters that can be easily consumed in one slurp, I’ve seen some people take a knife and fork to the biggest Gulf Coast specimens.
So it was only a matter of time before the culinary wizards of the Gulf Coast came up with the idea to grill oysters. Antoine’s Restaurant in New Orleans is credited with inventing one of the first cooked-oyster recipes — Oysters Rockefeller.
Drago’s Seafood Restaurant in Metairie just north of New Orleans has been credited with inventing the traditional grilledoyster recipe with butter, garlic and cheese.
In Houston, Brennan’s, Ragin’ Cajun and Jimmy G’s have been serving grilled oysters for years. Newer restaurants such as Liberty Kitchen, Eunice and La Lucha are also getting into the act.
But the undisputed king of grilled oysters in the Houston area is Gilhooley’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar in the small fishing town of San Leon on Galveston Bay. The best and biggest oysters go straight from the bay onto the grills at Gilhooley’s. Menuwise, Oysters Gilhooley is the classic recipe with butter, garlic and Parmesan. The bar also serves a variation known as Oysters Shrimphooley, with a chunk of peeled shrimp on top.
Gilhooley’s incomparable oysters, “rustic” atmosphere and strict no-kids policy have made it a cult favorite among Southeast Texas food connoisseurs. Beyond grilled oysters, get a dozen of the raw oysters, too. But beware, during peak season those oysters are big. You might even need a knife and fork.