It started nine years ago on a dare. Aisha Tyler, co-host of CBS’s daytime show "The Talk," considered herself a foodie. But despite growing up in San Francisco, a fresh seafood mecca, she had been afraid to eat raw oysters.
“My friends really loved [oysters], but I rustled up courage to try them,” Tyler says. “I’m an adventurous eater -- I eat sashimi -- but raw oysters were that last frontier of raw food.”
From that first slurp of the briny delicacy, Tyler was hooked. Now on most weekends, the actress and athlete (Tyler has completed marathons and does CrossFit daily) enjoys the cold-water snack. Her favorite oyster is the Kusshi, a West Coast delicacy that is tumbled so that its rough, irregular shell develops a cup that makes the tender, meaty oyster plump. Each Kusshi is about two inches, a manageable size if you love oysters, but don’t want a mouthful of raw mollusk.
Tyler understands that oysters can be a fearsome food, and recommends condiments for anyone trying to brave his first bite. She has several recipes for mignonette, a vinegar-based sauce for raw oysters, including a champagne mignonette with pink peppercorns and shallots, a lime gelee or a vodka grapefruit sorbet. She makes each of them from scratch, making sure the ingredients will complement the oyster without overpowering its natural goodness.
“When you eat them raw, it’s really about the flavor of the shellfish,” Tyler says. “You don’t make a mignonette too imposing.”
