Our Michelin Chefs Cook series puts the spotlight on ingredients handled in expert hands, highlighting the beauty of simple seasonal produce and pantry basics, to the heady heights of luxury ingredients and prime raw materials.
This week we've selected oysters, the salt-water bivalve molluscs that pop a fresh and salty punch and boast a rags-to-riches history.
Purists will enjoy their oysters fresh, just as they are, but a mignonette sauce suits others just as well. Cooked, there's a whole arsenal of techniques that lend themselves to these sweet and meaty shellfish, whether they are smoked or boiled, baked or fried.
These nutritious powerhouses with aphrodisiac qualities once fed the poor in the 19th century, but now grace Michelin-starred tables around the world.
See what can be done with these sought-after delicacies in the hands of Michelin-starred chefs, from two-Michelin-starred French chef Hélène Darroze, to the Basque country's Eneko Atxa.
Oysters star in four dishes at three-Michelin-star restaurants
First up, an oyster, goat cheese and seaweed dish from the three-Michelin-star De Librije in The Netherlands. Amazing flat oysters with avocado, horse radish and eel follow at 3-Michelin-star Hof Van Cleve in Belgium, then it's Sergio Herman preparing his famous oysters with miso and citrus at three-Michelin-star restaurant Oud Sluis in The Netherlands. French chef Arnaud Donckele presents the final act, when he prepares oyster three ways at three-Michelin-star La Vague d'Or in Saint-Tropez.
Hélène Darroze creates oyster tartar, and caviar
The French chef showcases her signature dish of oyster tartar, Oscietra caviar and coco bean velouté from her restaurant Hélène Darroze at the Connaught in the heart of London’s Mayfair.
Simon Hulstone creates a rock oyster and apple granite
Michelin star chef Simon Hulstone from Elephant restaurant and bar in Torquay, Devon, creates a simple fresh dish of rock oysters with apple and sorrel granite and Nepalese pepper using a Robot Coupe.
Gordon Ramsay Dives for Oysters In Thailand
Gordon Ramsay gets stuck in fishing for super sized oysters in his inimitable enthusiastic style. A local fisherman shows him the ropes as they dive down three meters to the river bed with just a chisel and an axe. Back on dry land he cooks up a hot and tasty oyster dipping sauce in a local home.
Stephen Harris creates oyster, sole and cream cheese ice cream
Michelin star chef Stephen Harris from The Sportsman in Seasalter, Kent, cooks three of his award-winning dishes; Oysters, Slip Soles and Cream Cheese Ice-Cream.
Eneko Atxa creates a recipe of Oyster tartar and oyster gelée
Watch chef Eneko Atxa from 3-Michelin star Azurmendi in the Basque country, as he whistles through a very technical, yet equally beautiful, recipe of oyster tartar and oyster gelée.
