Josiah

Oyster: …The outside shell of the oyster is rough and flinty. Inside, the shell is a most attractive pearly grey and the oyster meat is a milky bisque colour. All the meat is edible… Oysters are usually eaten raw with just a squeeze of lemon juice… Open oysters just before serving them. It is better to open oysters yourself so that the precious juices are not lost. But first scrub them, to remove any sand or mud…

Oysters - a bit of an acquired taste, I guess.

You either love them or you hate them.

Utterly unattractive from the outside.

Just like a bit of old rock.

And a devil to get into too.

You even have to use one of those special push'n'twist knives.

But, when you get inside - heaven.

"Oyster" is what I called Josiah the first time I set eyes on him.

He wanted a job.

And, if you've read my earlier pieces here, you'll know the sort of job I offer.

But at first he didn't look too prepossessing.

He'd been worried about being seen visiting my house.

And with that "rough and flinty shell" he'd put on, I didn't think he'd turn out to be too hot.

But as soon as he'd opened it up a bit for his "audition", I could see this was a boy with some potential after all.

But, like it says in the passage I've quoted above, oysters are supposed to be eaten completely raw.

So I just told him to carry right on - and, as I got to see more and more of the boy, I could see that the bit about the highly attractive appearance of the grey area contained within the shell was turning out to be absolutely right.

And not only was the reference to the edible meat certainly correct, but there was certainly plenty of it, too.

But I can't, myself, see what you'd gain by sprinkling it with lemon juice.

In fact, I'm all in favour of enjoying the oyster's natural juices.

"But", I can hear some of you saying right now, "it's easy for you.

"You're obviously very practised when it comes to oysters.

"I can never even prise the shell apart."

Well, guys, let me give you a word of advice.

If you're very lucky, then you can even persuade the oyster to prise open its own shell for you.

And you might even find the proverbial pearl - even a black one! - tucked away right at the oyster's inner core.

As you probably know, the verb for opening up an oyster is a pretty unusual one.

It's called shucking.

That's right. You shuck an oyster.

And that's not a typing error.