Meet Paris Oyster: A Love Affair with the Perfect Food

by Mireille Guiliano

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of French Women Don't Get Fat comes a memorable look at the French appetite for oysters, the characters who harvest and serve them, and the compelling reasons why we should all enjoy them.

A Love Affair with the Perfect Food

Meet Paris Oyster is an engaging exploration of the Parisian love affair with the world's most sensuous shellfish. It centers on HuvÆtrerie Rv©gis, a tightly packed oyster bar in the heart of the City of Light, with an opinionated owner and a colorful cast of regulars. Part cultural journey, part cookbook, and part slice-of-life play, this book introduces readers to the appetites (gastronomic and otherwise) of Paris and its people. Beyond HuvÆtrerie Rv©gis, the French oystermen, and the other characters in pursuit of the oyster, Mireille Guiliano shares information on the best oysters around the world, their nutritional value, the best wine pairings with them, and a dozen mouthwatering recipes that will have readers craving, buying, and preparing oysters with confidence. So take a virtual trip to Paris -- indulge and enjoy!

Genres: Cookbooks, France, Food, Nonfiction, Paris, Foodie, Cooking

160 pages, Hardcover

First published November 4, 2014

About the author

Internationally best-selling author Mireille Guiliano was for over 20 years the spokesperson for Champagne Veuve Clicquot and a senior executive at LVMH as well as CEO of Clicquot, Inc., the US firm she helped found in 1984 and was its first employee. Her first book, French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure, became a runaway best seller around the globe in 2005. She followed up this book in fall 2006 with French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes and Pleasure. In both, through her personal stories and illustrations, she espouses living life to the fullest by embracing quality, sensitivity, seasonality and pleasure while maintaining a healthy equilibrium.

In September 2008, Hilary Swank's production company bought the film rights to French Women Don't Get Fat; the plan is to make a romantic comedy with Mireille's famous French lifestyle message. The script is being adapted and should be ready soon. Stay tuned!

Please visit her book's website at:
http://www.frenchwomendontgetfat.com

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you grow up in a dryland farming community, chances are you are not going to have much contact with the world of oysters, except perhaps meeting them in Lewis Carroll's The Walrus and the Carpenter. It wasn't until one Christmas Eve when my Northwest Coast sister-in-law taught my husband how to prepare oysters simmered in a Riesling that I had the occasion (or desire) to sample them. The world immediately changed for the better. I still hadn't slurped a RAW one and would pass by the San Francisco and Paris oyster bars with a look of pure skepticism. Jonathan Swift's words, "He was a bold man that first ate an oyster," always came to mind. Somewhere along the way, however, I bravely gave the shelled bivalves a try ... and was hooked.

Needless to say then, Mireille Guiliano's short but sweet Meet Paris Oyster is a delightful read. You will join the author as she strolls to Huîterie Régis tucked away in the Saint-Germaine-des-Prés quartier of Paris and from there the adventure begins. Guiliano introduces the readers not only to the variety of oysters available and where best to find them but also lets you know what to drink with your meal (hint: ninety-nine percent of the wines that go best with oysters are white wines ... when in doubt go with champagne ... sparkling water is always a proven alternative.) There is even a section of recipes for those who prefer their oysters as something other than slurped from the shell. The book is fun, and if you are truly a fan, you will no doubt want it as a good reference along the way.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished reading this splendid little book (fewer than 150 pages) entitled Meet Paris Oyster: A Love Affair with The Perfect Food by Mireille Guiliano (author of French Women Don't Get Fat). Most of the book is centred on a specific oyster resto in Saint Germain-du-Pres (the Huitrerie Regis), its owner, and the oyster aficionados who frequent the spot. Sounds boring, you say? Not to me. I have sat across from more than one friend and downed two dozen oysters on the shell...as they cringed in my presence. Love these amazing creatures...also perfect source of protein and other good things.
This tiny tome gives much information on types, size, and even some recipes for those who prefer their oysters cooked in some way.
There is a section where people reveal the very first time the ever tasted this bivalve.
A quick read...but interesting to those of us who love this sea critter.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting notes on how oysters are grown and their nutritional value--high in Omega-3--with a few useful recipes. Quick read, good for foodies, but still not exactly sure why she wrote this book except perhaps to promote foods that go well with champagne.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

cute, but like reading a relative's diary.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Last winter I ate my first oysters in an oyster bar in Paris. We have lots of wonderful Gulf oysters here near Houston, but I've always stayed away from them.

But when I was in Paris, I couldn't resist.





The oyster bar is Calibré Huitrerie. The owner is from Brittany. He pampered us, first bringing out some free small oysters while we waited. Then he brought out free shots for us all. You don't say, "Salud!" when you toast in Brittany, we were told. Instead, you say, "Yec'hed mat!" (pronounced eeyermat).

I tried both raw oysters and cooked oysters. To the raw oysters, the chef added caviar and sea anemones. The cooked oysters had lemon, spinach, and green Tobasco sauce.

We drank champagne with our meal. Oysters and champagne. The perfect Paris meal.

When I returned home, I read Meet Paris Oyster: A Love Affair with the Perfect Food, an all-about-oysters book from author Mireille Guiliano. You sense her adoration of the oyster on every page. She shares reasons for eating them including the fact that oysters are low calorie---only ten or so calories an oyster, low fat, and, of course, delicious. She takes her readers to her favorite French oyster bar. She proposes wines to drink with oysters. She tells us about what she sees as the best oysters in the world. And, should you not wish to eat them her favorite way, raw, she offers recipes for cooked oysters.

[anahissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot about oysters. It makes me want to get into the business. I wasn’t really drawn in by the author, I found her a little annoying honestly. And she contradicted herself a couple times with her little vignettes, but she added in a lot of detail about the French oyster and wine and I feel like I came out of this a better oyster lover.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what it says it is...a love letter Paris and the oyster. Yum!!!!

[Doris · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book-length review of Huîterie Régis, which I'm sure is a fine restaurant, but it doesn't really make for much of a book.

[Min · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly, this is a love affair of one woman, and a nation that treasures the oyster; read by the author in her delightful Parisian accent.
The story centers around a particular favorite restaurant of Guiliano's in Paris, Regis', that serves a very limited menu. A page for the various types of specialty oysters in combinations, a page for wine pairings, a page for those that do not want oysters featuring a shrimp, and a chicken dish, concluding with the single apple tart dessert made by the restaurant owner.
The author graces us with the vast amounts of information that turns this small book into a regional food treasure chest. She regales readers with its nutritional value, methods of cultivation in France, notable moments in ancient and recent history regarding oyster consumption, shares her own story of the first time she tried them which leads her friends from many different cultural, and social backgrounds, sharing their stories of the same. In praise of her friend the restaurateur, we catch of glimpse of his path to founding the small bistro, exploring his personality, and passion for this bivalve.
Exploring the various species that have been cultivated through the century as the original flat oyster, that the kings had eaten, became heavily depleted through disease, and extensive harvesting. Moving from a Portuguese species to the present Japanese species that is farmed world wide is telling about the shifting flavors offered. This, she spends a chapter explaining the reasons, and characteristics of common wine pairings, with a small concession to other alcohols that can be pleasing such as beer, cider, and, particularly, whiskey.
After familiarizing the reader with what is found in France, she expands upon the world's offerings, and ending with various popular recipes to introduce the new person to the delicacy, or developing one's love of the bivalve.

I may not find oysters, nor their cousins appetizer, however, I have had a few dishes flavored with them, which I do enjoy.
The author expresses such love for the food, I am partially tempted to try them again.

[Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

For Francophile oyster lovers. If her name sounds familiar it's because author Mireille Guiliano has written books like 'French Women Don't Get Fat'. Here she writes a book about oysters.
 
That's really the sum of it. She loves oysters and writes about eating them, the types there are, the myths/histories surrounding oysters, recipes, etc. That's really it, honestly. There's not a depth to it and it's rather easy to read this all in a day, perhaps in a few hours. This is definitely one of those books that should have been a magazine long-read at best.
 
I don't eat seafood, don't personally understand the appeal of oysters at all as a food, but if you're a fan of her previous books, are a foodie, or like oysters then this book might be for you. I would recommend you get this from the library though unless you're really a fan or have a specific interest in the subject.

[Colette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. I enjoyed the first half more than I did the second half. It did at times, almost feel like a long advertisement for a certain oyster bar in Paris (that I now have added to my bucket list!) but it was still fascinating to me, a life-long oyster lover. Be warned: Your mouth will water reading the various oyster descriptions!

[Renuka · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating doesn't reflect the quality of the book. This book is all about the author's love of eating oysters, the different kinds of oysters that exist, oyster wine pairing, how the author began to eat oysters, etc. You get the point. If you love oysters and want to know more about it, this is the book for you. If not, you should pass this one up…which is what I should have done.

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful and quick read for anyone who is enamored with oysters or wants to learn more. Mireille Guiliano takes us into the world of famous Paris oyster house Huiterie Regis by weaving short narratives with facts about French oysters. Reading this book made me want to pack my bags and visit France!

[Diane Kish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!!

Loved it! Anyone who loves oysters will love this book. Readers need to know it is not a novel. Marseille has another winner!

[Sheri Hone]

Don't recommend.

[Hilary Hanselman · Rating 3 out of 5]

consider the oyster is a far superior book about oysters but it is so pleasurable to hear about them that this still gets 3 stars

[Madison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why I read this. I'm allergic to oysters.

[Suzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite what I was expecting - it’s a story book literally about experiences eating oysters. I gained a ton of knowledge on oysters and want to head straight to Paris and indulge in Oysters and champagne! It was very repetitive and could have likely been more interesting , however it is what it is- a story book of oyster eating experiences, that was oddly enough published and read by many!

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I would almost consider this to be mircohistory for oysters, although I'm sure there were more personal anecdotes than a pure microhistory book. I personally love oysters so I found this to be quite interesting. I definitely put Regis on my to-try list if I ever visit Paris.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delicious salivating read!

[Lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. I could listen to her talk about oysters all day.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yummy!

[Lauren Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A love letter to those delicious bivalves.

[Liam]

See my blog!