Food

Pickled Oysters

Lesson time 17:57 min

Mashama explains the importance of pickling in Georgia and the significance of the McIntosh oyster in the Savannah economy. She then demonstrates how to create brining liquid and shuck and pickle an oyster before plating and presenting the dish.

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Topics include: Oysters Deep Dive · Pickling · Blanching · Plating

Mashama Bailey

Teaches Southern Cooking

James Beard Award–winning chef Mashama Bailey teaches you techniques and recipes for nutritious, flavorful Southern dishes—from grits to gumbo.

Preview

[UPBEAT MUSIC] MASHAMA BAILEY (VOICEOVER): What I find working in the South is that usually, the harvests come fast and quick as the temperature changes throughout the year. So seasons are short, and you have to take advantage of that. You only have one time a year to grow strawberries because the weather gets hotter, and you can't replant them. So you only have certain months where people feel comfortable eating oysters in the South, because the waters get really warm. And taking advantage of that time, they usually preserve. And so this dish is a real example of my first take on how Savannah and that region has affected my cooking. [UPBEAT MUSIC] - So I really want to talk about these oysters. These are McIntosh oysters. They are very specific to the region. They have been raised by a third-generation Black oyster farmer. And so-- - Hello! MASHAMA BAILEY (VOICEOVER): It's just really special to hear about how the water has supported their family, and how they create these different recipes surrounding oysters in this region, and for me to learn about the food of the region through the eyes of people who have been working the land for generations. So it's really important for me to amplify those types of voices and the cooking at The Grey restaurant. - I feel like you guys are, like, a rare breed, you know? Not a lot of you left, so I want to make sure you're around as long as we're around. It's a really important part of the story for us at The Grey because it keeps the oral history of that region alive. We really learn a lot about how people cook there, how people grew food there, and how they earned a living in that region, which-- which gives us an opportunity to amplify those voices through our food. So using local ingredients is really important because it really helps to sustain a community, and that's a lot of the reason why we use the McIntosh oysters at The Grey restaurant. Now, I'm going to show you how to shuck an oyster. And it's kind of funny because I didn't realize that there were oysters on the coast, but I guess it makes sense. It's marshy. It's shallow water, and oysters tend to thrive. They are salty. They sounds a little funkiness to them, in a good way. And they're very-- they're very salinic. So they're perfect oysters for cooking because they plump up really nicely, and they really hold the flavor. So I particularly like cooking with these oysters. And I think traditionally, people in the region usually cook with these types of oysters. For you at home, if you're located in the Northeast, Blue Point oysters are great. I really like East Coast oysters to cook with. I like oysters with a thicker shell to cook with, and I like oysters with a thinner shell to eat raw. So West Coast oysters I tend to like to eat raw because their flavors are a little bit more delicate. You sort-- you have more vegetable notes on them or fruit notes. You have cucumber, or melon, or se...

About the Instructor

Through her award-winning Savannah restaurant, The Grey, Chef Mashama Bailey has brought worldwide acclaim to the rich, layered traditions of African American Southern cooking. Now the James Beard Award–winning chef shows you traditional and reimagined techniques and recipes for nutritious, flavorful Southern dishes. From pork shank and collard greens to gumbo and grits, explore a world of history, texture, and taste.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Mashama Bailey

James Beard Award–winning chef Mashama Bailey teaches you techniques and recipes for nutritious, flavorful Southern dishes—from grits to gumbo.

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