Cookies Preferences
There’s a man, Ali, who stands with white styrofoam coolers at his feet under a highway overpass on the edge of the Mar Mikhael neighbourhood. I’ve driven by and seen him many times, not knowing what he was selling, and finally my curiosity got the best of me and I stopped. He sells shellfish. Oysters, clams, scallops, and even sea urchin when the season’s right. All things I don’t associate with Mediterranean waters. Ali has been standing on this corner for 30 years hawking his wares. His delicate morsels fished from waters between the cities of Saida and Tyre in the South, or Jnoub as he called it. They aren’t the best I’ve eaten of their kind, and I crossed my fingers I wouldn’t get sick from eating them, but these are the encounters I adore here. The unexpected overpass shellfish man of Mar Mikhael.
Because Ali’s oysters weren’t the best I’ve ever tasted, adding an icy granita perfumed with cucumber and liquorice was a winning match with the briny sea creatures. No oysters or you’d rather keep them pristine? Try the granita as a little palate cleanser between courses during your next dinner party.
4 cups or 1 pound peeled cucumbers in chunks
1/4 cup arak
juice of one lime
pinch salt
12 oysters, shucked so they're clean and easy to eat
Blend cucumber until it’s a smooth pulp and add arak, lime, and salt. Place in a metal baking pan before putting in freezer. Every 30 minutes or so scrape at the granita with a fork, breaking up the mixture into small pieces. This takes about four hours. You can then place it in a sealed container in the freezer until ready to use. Spoon a bit of the granita directly onto the shucked oyster on the half shell. Garnish with edible flowers if you so desire.
