Oysters, Eek!!

Since moving to RI, I have wanted to try oysters. I figured I like most seafood, why not give oysters a try, people really seem to like them. Recently, I was given the opportunity to expand my culinary pallet.
We were at Matunuck Oyster Bar for a friends birthday last week and I thought, "I'm at an oyster bar, there probably isn't a better place to try an oyster than at an oyster bar". I was with several other oyster virgins, so we ordered a sampler of 12 oysters.

Here's how the next several moments went down. Mistake. I picked up my oyster and stared looking at it closely. I began to freak out and didn't think I would be able to consume it. I thought I would hurl.

I watched as Adam, Jesse and Sarita ate their first oysters. Everyone kept a pretty "cool" face, except Sarita, after a few chews her face was the give away that I was NOT going to enjoy this experience too much.

Adam started on oyster two, and I was still debating whether or not I was going to eat my first. Here's how I was finally able to get myself to do it.

1. I dumped out some of the salt water that was still surrounding the oyster (apparently that's why people tend to "slurp" so much when eating oysters, they're trying to pull out every last drop of delicious ocean water). I personally thought it was because people were trying to drop the oyster down their throat without it touching the inside of their mouth. In fact, I still believe this to be true.
2. I squeezed a bit of lemon on top.
3. I added a good dollop of cocktail sauce.
4. I stopped thinking about what I was going to be eating.

I'll quit with the suspense. I put the oyster in my mouth, it touched my tongue and immediately my throat closed off. I knew there was NO WAY my body was going to allow this thing to go down my throat. I panicked for a moment and thought, "how am I going to get this slimy thing down without gagging? I can't very well spit it out. I paid $1.85 and I'm an adult in a nice restaurant!" So I did what any smart person would do. I took a large swig of water and swallowed it down like a pill. Genius!

After shaking off the terrible experience, I posed with my little shell to prove how awesome I am!

 Moral of the story, it's good to try new culinary experiences, because they make for great blog posts!