Cycle 4 – Item 8
13 (Sun) January 2013
Tagliatelle in Oyster-Picada Cream Sauce with Oyster Mushrooms
3.5
by me
at home
-Oksu, Seongdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea-
with W and DJ
Just a last-minute/ad-libbed/whatever’s-in-the-fridge/quick-fix dish.
Contemplating what to do with a handful of raw oysters, I realized that I’d never seen nor even heard of a pasta cream sauce involving oysters, whereas every other seafood variety is commonly used; I didn’t see why oysters couldn’t be just as good. Concerned that the oyster flavor might be overwhelming in plain cream, I added cubes of sofrito and picada, for substance. To round things out, if only in terms of semantics, I tossed in some oyster mushrooms.
It turned out quite well. The bittersweet brininess of the oysters paired perfectly with the heavy cream, balanced out by the touches of caramelized tomatoes/onions and toasted nuts/herbs in the aromatics. Intense, complex, sophisticated (if I may be so bold), probably the best cream sauce that I’ve ever made. The tagliatelle contributed a buttery softness. The oyster mushrooms didn’t really do much. An instant classic, could be a new signature dish if I liked either oysters or cream sauces, which I don’t.
(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)