Ostras

Cenário: Uma mesa de bar. Cena: Amigos com uma ou outra coisa em comum conversando sobre ostras. E ação!

Ostras são moluscos bivalves. Não diga! Tá bom, mas você sabia que as ostras já eram consumidas e apreciadas pelos celtas, gregos e romanos, que as devoravam em grandes quantidades? Bons tempos... Hoje os comedores de ostras são cada vez mais raros...! Será que tinha mais ostra no mercado? No começo do século 19 as ostras eram baratas e comidas pela classe trabalhadora até em tortas! Que beleza! Depois, com o aumento das cidades e da poluição a oferta do molusco diminuiu, seu preço subiu e a ostra passou a ser considerada uma iguaria. Hoje essas delícias são criadas em fazendas e requerem supervisão constante ao longo do seu período de crescimento de 3 a 4 anos. É verdade que os franceses são os maiores comedores de ostras? Parece que sim. Que saudades da França! Mas qual é o lance a respeito das ostras? São afrodisíacas mesmo? As ostras já eram consideradas afrodisíacas pelos romanos, no século 2 A.D., como mencionado numa sátira de Juvenal, que descreve o jeito devasso das mulheres depois de ingeri-las. Para os gregos quando Afrodite, a deusa do amor, saltou do mar numa concha de ostra e deu à luz Eros, a palavra “afrodisíaco” nasceu. E tem mais, Casanova começava suas refeições comendo 12 dúzias do molusco... Hum, mas de cientifico, nada? Cientificamente não existe nenhuma comida afrodisíaca… As ostras são muito nutritivas, com alto teor de proteína, ferro, cálcio, zinco e vitamina A. Pode ser que fazem efeito porque dão uma energia extra, o que já é alguma coisa…! E não deixam as mulheres com consciência pesada, só têm 47 calorias e 1,3 gramas de gordura! Nada disso, é muito mais óbvio. A ostra é macia, suculenta e tem uma aparência semelhante a… Sabe, né?! É simplesmente uma questão de associação de idéias, entende? Pode ser. Mas e o gosto? Afrodisíaca ou não, é maravilhosa! Mineral, refrescante, e salgadinha... Pura poesia... Gosto de mar!

English:

Food and love is a good combination, but let’s say you not only want to show your love with some cooking but also spice things up… Careful, food and sex can be very weird. Since that movie (remember?) people decided they at least should try to mix two pleasures in one experience. I don’t think it works; besides it’s so 80’s! And what about eating aphrodisiac food to get stimulated and then change activity? That can work… Imagine this scenery: A table in a crowded bar. The scene: Friends with not much in common having a good time eating and talking about oysters. And action!

Oysters are bivalve mollusks. Don’t say! Ok, but did you also know oysters were already consumed and appreciated by the Celtics, Greeks and Romans? And they ate them eagerly in massive quantities. That must have been good times… today there aren’t many oyster eaters. There are 4 at this table! Yeah, but in general… Do you think there were more oysters available? I know that in the beginning of the 19th century oysters were cheap and therefore eaten by the working class even in pies. But overfishing and pollution have reduced supplies, the price went up and oysters became a delicacy. At the same time more people now are afraid of getting diseases from eating them, especially raw. Do you think the French are the biggest oyster eaters? I would say so. I miss being in France!!! But what’s the deal with oysters anyway? Are they aphrodisiac? They were already considerate aphrodisiac by the Romans as mentioned on Juvenal’s satire, on which he describes how women behaved after eating oysters. The word aphrodisiac comes from the Greek goddess of sensuality, Aphrodite. A legend says Aphrodite came out of the ocean on an oyster shell and gave birth to Eros, the God of love. It is also known that Casanova started his meals by eating 12 dozens of this mollusks. Hum, but scientifically is there any proof of aphrodisiac powers? No, not really, scientifically there’s no such thing. But I know that oysters are very healthy, have a lot of protein, iron, zinc and vitamin A… maybe zinc can cause some effect. They’re also good because they don’t leave women felling bad after eating a lot, since they have few calories and only 1,3 grams of fat! No, you are all talking in circles! Oysters are fresh, soft, juicy, feels good in the mouth… you know! It’s a simple matter of association of ideas… Ok, maybe, but for me it is all about the taste; mineral, refreshing and salty… feels like eating the ocean! On that everyone agreed.

So if eating oysters made not so close friends talk about those things, there is the proof it has some aphrodisiac effect! Right? Or that effect was caused by the alcohol we were drinking with the oysters…?