Mount Pleasant Magazine Jan/Feb 2018

36 www.CharlestonBrides.com | www.MPMcalendar.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com feature O yster roasts are about as synonymous with the Lowcountry as Bill Murray or The Pineapple Fountain. Mollusks, fished out of salty tributaries, find their way to wooden-planked counters and dinner plates every winter. Oyster seekers brave blankets of quicksand-like pluff mud, all in the name of culinary adventure. When the temperatures dip, folks gather to crack, shuck and slurp. At these time-honored soirees, rising steam creates a fog of sorts, which jaggedly cuts into the evening’s dampness. Ritualistic, the very act of congregating with hungry neighbors around a heap of marine treasures comes across as primitive. One can’t help but look rustic breaking open shells and consuming their contents, all while bundled to keep the evening chill at bay. Fans of the oyster are not one easily- labeled group. From pearl-clad socialites to dock-working fishermen, a number of folks take comfort in the briny morsels of protein. Author Tom Robbins once likened the act of eating a raw oyster to French kissing a mermaid. Literary great Jonathan Swift is noted as remarking on the bravery that came from the very first to consume such an enigma. Regardless of how you like them prepared, one thing they usually manage to do is bring people together. Whether you pair them with champagne or a craft beer, prefer them roasted or straight out of the shell, oysters are truly the unofficial mascot of our coastal town. By Kalene McCort A Shucking Good Time Oyster Roasts to Attend This Year going out