Oysters with dill, apple and fermented cucumber
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The oysters at Scott Smith's Fhior are unmissable – green apple and fermented cucumber cut through the rich, saline oyster, whilst the dill gives a gentle aniseed finish. You'll need a good four days to ferment the cucumber juice to go on top, but the rest can be done at the drop of a hat. This is a fantastic way to make the most of great oysters.
Ingredients
- 6 oysters
- 1 Granny Smith apple
- 1 bunch of dill
- 200ml of vegetable oil
- 2 cucumbers
- salt
- rapeseed oil, to garnish
Method
1
Four days before you plan to serve the oysters, start fermenting the cucumbers. Chop and weigh cucumbers in a bowl, then add 2% of the weight in salt and pack into a clean sterilised fermentation jar. Top up with filtered water and place ceramic weights on top so the water covers the cucumbers. Cover the jar with muslin cloth or a tea towel, and use an elastic band to fix securely – this allows gases from the fermentation to escape but stops anything bad getting in. Leave to ferment at room temperature for 4 days
2
When the cucumbers have finished fermenting, strain the juice through a fine mesh sieve and retain for dressing the oysters. Discard the pulp
3
Heat the vegetable oil in a small pan to 75ºC, then transfer to a blender. Add the dill (reserving 1 sprig for garnish) and blend for 6 minutes until very smooth. When finished, strain through a double layer of muslin cloth in the fridge overnight. Retain the oil and discard the pulp
- 1 bunch of dill
- 200ml of vegetable oil
4
Peel and core the apple, then dice into a 3mm brunoise and dress with two tablespoons of the dill oil
5
To serve, open the oysters and place on serving plate (Scott uses salt as a sturdy base to sit the oysters on). Top with the fermented cucumber juice, dill oil, rapeseed oil, diced apples and a sprig of dill
- 6 oysters
- rapeseed oil, to garnish
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Oysters with dill, apple and fermented cucumber
