Surely you know the expression “bored as an oyster”. It’s another fake news! Oysters are not boring, quite the opposite, and one of the most exciting products in gastronomy. With them there is no room for half measures or equidistance, either you love them madly or you hate them to death. The boredom that is falsely imputed to him is not because he is a languid mollusk, it is due to the apocope of the word ‘ostracism’ – from the Greek ‘óstrakon’, which meant exile for the ancient Athenians, to which they subjected those who were considered elements dangerous for the community, forcing them to leave Athens and remain in exile for a period of approximately ten years. Condemned to be far from their family and live in solitude, consequently doomed to boredom. Ten years! The same ones that Andrés Soler wears, but in this case very entertaining living and spreading the wonderful world of oysters.
As a good friend, I allow myself the license to call him, without wishing to be mistaken, “Lord of the Oysters.” I don’t think anyone in these latitudes knows more about oysters than him, he is the Larousse of this rich bivalve. Andrés dove into this hand in hand with his mentor, the biologist Manuel Maruhenda, who was based in Santa Pola, where he was developing a production and research project, which for reasons unknown to me did not come to fruition. .
In 2013 Andrés began to innovate in the catering area and exclusive oyster service. He remembers the day he showed up at the Sueca Paella Contest, wearing harnesses with pots and a unique outfit, opening oysters left and right, and staying with all the staff. For most, he was the first oyster of his life. Here we are more of a clóchina, but the glamor that comes associated with oysters with Champagne makes us take that step and dare to try a delicious and viscous oyster, always alive.
Andrés Soler has been trying to show the path of good oysters for decades, but there is still a long way to go. From that Ostrarium on Chile Street, passing through the San Valero Market to Els Magazinos de Dénia, it has rained, that is why I take advantage of this tribute to his figure to help spread the message, and if later you want to expand your knowledge, nowhere else better than at home, Ostrarium, within the Magazinos complex in Dénia, where it will offer you around twenty oysters to choose from, more than 25 types of Champagne, 100 different brands of vermouth, the best preserves and salted products on the market, dried octopus, the red prawn from Dénia, selection of caviars, fresh tuna… between whistles and flautas about 80 tapas references.
Andrés’ keys to “going out for oysters”, even if you have never been there or they cause you a certain aversion:
– First of all, Andrés will ask you the following question: Do you like to eat?… Eating in general. If so, he will try to prove that you or anyone who enjoys it can become an oyster lover.
– The best oysters are… Any one, they can be anything, from a French Pousse en claire Marennes Oléron Label Rouge, to a flat Galician or a Portuguese one (casostrea angulata), even the Valencian Pearl. The qualities of the product will depend on the genetics and cultivation. It is something complex that my friend explains by comparing the cultivation period in the “claire”, or vast expanses of shallow water, where the best oysters are grown and refined, with the montanera of the Iberian pig.
– You can put whatever you want on the oyster. At Ostrarium they offer them with a complete service of sherry vinegar, red onion, orange juice and zest, cinnamon, five types of Tabasco, lemon and freshly ground pepper. But the teacher always recommends taking it bareback, and something very important, MAS-TI-CAR-LA. The oyster is chewed, it is never swallowed whole. 99% of disorders or alleged oyster poisoning come from having ingested the organism alive and well, then our body reacts, defends itself by expelling everything that is inside, that’s why you go down the drain… up… by the ears. Anyone who has suffered it knows how unpleasant it is. Always chew the oyster if you don’t want to be upset.
We must pay attention to a man like Andrés Soler who will have opened nearly 8 million oysters in his life.
The best thing about Dénia is that even if a Valencian is caught, one of those who get into trouble for charging 10 euros for an esmorzaret, in this city he transforms, and spends whatever is necessary on food, as if he were a Madrid native from the Salamanca neighborhood . I never tire of proclaiming to the four winds… How beautiful Dénia is!
And if you want to taste the best oysters in València, I recommend: Rausell, La Carmela, Aragón 58, Marisquería La Caleta and Taberna Alkázar.
