My wife just got in from watching the oyster eating contest at the N.O. Oyster Fest held this weekend in the French Quarter. The winner was a 3 time repeating champ who happens to be a little Asian lady from Virginia. She ate an astonishing 24 dozen raw oysters off the half shell in 5 minutes to keep her title.
My wife said she is about 5' 5" tall and only weighed a bit over 100 lbs. That is an incredible amount of oysters to eat in such a short time. Her closest competitor was a guy that ate just over 20 dozen.
My stomach hurts just thinking about eating that many oysters.
-
webmaster
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9478
- Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 12:59 pm
- Location: Amherst, MA USDA Zone 5a
Geez, that's just nutz! 
I was in New Orleans recently and had oysters down at a seafood restaurant at the Hilton, near the convention center and over at a stall at the open air market. I know, touristy. Oysters were disappointingly bland. Next time will do my research first.
That said I had a fantastic meal at Cochon and at some smaller places elsewhere. Ate at the Commanders Palace and that was ok, I guess one has to eat there once in their lifetime. Not as good as Cochon or other restaurants I like better in New Orleans.
I was in New Orleans recently and had oysters down at a seafood restaurant at the Hilton, near the convention center and over at a stall at the open air market. I know, touristy. Oysters were disappointingly bland. Next time will do my research first.
That said I had a fantastic meal at Cochon and at some smaller places elsewhere. Ate at the Commanders Palace and that was ok, I guess one has to eat there once in their lifetime. Not as good as Cochon or other restaurants I like better in New Orleans.
webmaster wrote:Geez, that's just nutz!
I was in New Orleans recently and had oysters down at a seafood restaurant at the Hilton, near the convention center and over at a stall at the open air market. I know, touristy. Oysters were disappointingly bland. Next time will do my research first.
That said I had a fantastic meal at Cochon and at some smaller places elsewhere. Ate at the Commanders Palace and that was ok, I guess one has to eat there once in their lifetime. Not as good as Cochon or other restaurants I like better in New Orleans.
If you want some of the best oysters on the half shell, next time try Acme Oyster House. There is one located in the French Quarter just off Bourbon St. and another on Veteran's Blvd. a short ride from the Quarter.
Commander's has a nice Jazz Brunch on Sunday, but I haven't eaten there in years. Just too pricey for my taste. Some of the better restaurants are far off the beaten path and known mostly by locals. The big names like Brennan's, Antoine's, Commander's Palace, Emeril's, K-Paul's, etc. are big draws for tourists.
Another thing I should have added. Oysters are exponentially better during the colder months of the year. They get thin and a bit milky in the summer months. The age old adage about oysters is "Eat them in months with an "R" in the name.
Marlingardener wrote:Well, I'd be no competition for either the runner-up or the winner, but my mouth waters at the thought of all those luscious oysters! When we visited New Orleans and vicinity on vacation a few years back, my husband thought I would drive up the price of oysters just by causing a shortage.
Not to worry. That big spill in the Gulf a few years back when the BP well blew took care of the oyster prices. Before then I could get a 100 lb. sack of oysters to shuck for $40 and it would contain 18-22 dozen depending on the size of the oysters. After the spill you couldn't get oysters for a good while, then when you could, they were $80 for a smaller sack.
Now I can get them for $60 a sack, but the sacks are not as large as they once were. If you get 12 dozen you're doing good. And that price works out to about $5 a dozen-----------and I have to shuck them.