Something that I missed a lot while in Southeast Asia is oysters. Amongst many other benefits, raw oysters are one of the best sources of zinc and I just love the iodine-rich sea water taste. In my opinion, they are best eaten nature, and at most with vinaigre aux échalotes. Not forgetting bread and salted butter, and a bottle of white wine, of course! These oysters come from the Oléron Island, which is France’s second biggest island after Corsica, located off the Atlantic coast roughly speaking between Bretagne and Bordeaux.

To complete the meal, we had chosen three different cheese: Bethmale from the Pyrenees, Manchego from Spain and Ossau Iraty from the Basque country. A perfectly happy marriage between France and Spain and the region in between!

Our local caviste in the 15th arrondissement had suggested an excellent bottle of white wine to go with the oysters: Chateau la Grave ‘Expression’ Minervois 2009 (http://www.chateau-la-grave.net/wines/expression-blanc.html). For the cheese, we had bought Buzet Les Prieurs de Fonclaire 2010 (http://www.nouvelle-epicerie.fr/fr/sud-ouest-provence/5201-buzet-les-pieurs-de-fonclaire-2010-rouge.html). Both bottles cost less than 10€ and far exceeded our expectations.