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Date: | Mon, 1 Apr 2002 20:36:49 -0500 |
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Oyster Knives ... now I know what they are, thanks, Ned. After looking
around on the 'net I see that I once had a jackknife with one built
in. Not that I ever would have shucked an oyster with it ...
Here's a cool one:
http://www.antique-central.com/users/uploads/dimwit/dnlongknife.JPG
How are these different than scallop knives that I saw in use during a
tourista vacation along the east coast some 30 years ago? Deft hands of
gnarled lower class old folks, standing knee deep in slime and shells, was
a wonderous site, but the stench chased us away before too long. It was a
sight straight from the pen of many southern writers.
Dan W.
At 08:46 AM 4/1/02, you wrote:
>The Dark Side of Oyster knives -
>
>Oyster knives are indeed more or less an elegant tool, and many people do
>tend to develop personal attachments to them (much like trowels). At the
>same time there are few that really use them often that haven't driven one
>most of the way through their hand. Oyster shells are slippery, and you
>have to hold them in your hand with the hinge end of the bivalve against
>the palm. As the blade is then forced through to cut the hinge it
>sometimes has a tendency to go too far or just plain slips out from between
>the shells. The end result here being that the force being placed against
>the handle then plunges the blade into the palm of your hand. Most people
>that open oysters for a living have driven at least a blade or two into
>their hands, and casual gourmets that open their own oysters also sometimes
>suffer the same fate. Maybe the lesson is to buy an oyster knife to look
>at, but order your oysters on the half shell. As a number of folks have
>pointed out, libations do seem to go with eating oysters, and that will
>also will ease the pain of the misdirected knife.
>
>J. Dent
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