{"id":2214,"date":"2009-12-31T09:14:40","date_gmt":"2009-12-31T17:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/?p=2214"},"modified":"2009-12-31T09:15:23","modified_gmt":"2009-12-31T17:15:23","slug":"the-eater-on-collards-and-oysters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/2009\/12\/the-eater-on-collards-and-oysters\/","title":{"rendered":"The Eater on Collards and Oysters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/eaterlogo11.jpg\" alt=\"eaterlogo1\" title=\"eaterlogo1\" width=\"215\" height=\"81\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-2215\" \/>This month&#8217;s column is on collards and oysters:<\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you cook your collards?<\/strong><br \/>\nOver the holidays, The Eater followed age-old advice not to wade into conversations about religion or politics with relatives, but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let that lead you to believe that means Yours Truly has no stomach for controversy.<\/p>\n<p>For religion and politics are topics easily punched out after only a few rounds. Broach the subject of cooking collards, on the other hand, and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got an evening\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s debate in the makings.<\/p>\n<p>It is not as simple as cook \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcem long vs. quick braising. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the chemistry of butter and pork fat, the timing and quantity of salt, the use of cider or specific vinegars, water vs. chicken broth and the value, or lack thereof, of potlicker to bicker over.<\/p>\n<p>To stir the pot for your New Year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Day ritual, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve launched a collards outreach program to gather insights into various techniques and timings, which we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll publish on our MILL blog and on The Eater\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/The-Eater\/225732897271\">new page on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Many of us have techniques long practiced and are quite doctrinaire. For those of you still wandering in the desert or open-minded on this sacred Southern tradition, we offer a few thoughts from masters \u00e2\u20ac\u201d both pro and am \u00e2\u20ac\u201d on the subject.<\/p>\n<p>In his book Seasoned in the South, Bill Smith of Crook\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Corner addresses the length of cooking:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There are many conflicting opinions on this. To my mind, collards were not made for quick cooking. Undercook collards and you are asking to be strangled; they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be properly chewed. On the other hand, overcook them and they will eventually turn to mush. Two hours seems about right, although this might give nutritionists pause.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Location, location, location<\/strong><br \/>\nIt remains oyster season, and it looks like a good year to be picky. Just like here, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been raining heavily at the coast. And since this state is pretty aggressive about closing oyster beds after big rains, there are fewer local oysters available. That means more imports from other areas, particularly the Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to shellfish, it pays to do a little research. As with real estate, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all about location. Having several years ago experienced a classic rough night following a less-than-savvy shellfish choice, The Eater advises discretion and informed decision making.<br \/>\nNote that there have been some issues already this year. There was a massive recall in early December on Texas oysters out of San Antonio Bay, and some Louisiana oysters are blamed for a nasty evening for about 40 diners at Raleigh\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 42nd Street Oyster Bar.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking for them in the shell around here, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a couple reliable choices for non-Gulf varieties. Tom Robinson has a good steady source for North Carolina oysters for around $4.99 a dozen. Whole Foods has the large Chesapeake\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s for $15.48 a dozen and Connecticut Blue Points for $5.88 a dozen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This month&#8217;s column is on collards and oysters: How do you cook your collards? Over the holidays, The Eater followed age-old advice not to wade into conversations about religion or politics with relatives, but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let that lead you to believe that means Yours Truly has no stomach for controversy. For religion and politics are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2214"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2217,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214\/revisions\/2217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/mill\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}