Slippery when wet

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Oysters on the half shell at Mama's on the Half Shell

Credit:Mark Gross

Ingredients: The oysters are served raw on the half shell and in a bed of crushed ice. They're medium-sized, just a little bit salty, and come with Mama's fantastic chipotle lime cocktail sauce and a red wine mignonette sauce (red wine, vinegar and shallots).

Damage: $9.50 half dozen, $18 dozen

Skinny: I have a confession to make. I've always thought oysters were gross. They're unattractive. They're slimy. They're the source of that disgusting slurping noise at seafood restaurants. How could anyone actually eat these nasty little
shuckers? But here I was, face to slimy face with the first (and, I thought, last) oyster I would ever eat. With a heavy dollop of cocktail sauce dropped on the offending bivalve, I put my bottom lip against its rigid, bumpy shell, lifted it up and slurp! There it went. The whole thing. And you know what? It wasn't so bad. Actually, it was good. Mama's cocktail sauce would make practically anything palatable. I tried another with the mignonette, and though it was a little saltier this way, it was not altogether disagreeable. I decided the chipotle lime cocktail sauce was the way to go, and enjoyed another, knowing this would not be my last oyster.—Mark Gross