How to Shuck Holiday Oysters

By Elizabeth Gunnison

Welcome to Eat Like a Man's 2012 Holiday Survival Guide, wherein we tackle some of the season's thorniest issues in food and drink to help you make it to January in one piece.

"He was a brave man who first ate an oyster," as Jonathan Swift famously said, not least because opening the stubborn suckers is so fraut with the potential for injury to your pride and your person. And yet during the holidays, when you're looking for no-cook ways to get some kind of festive - or simply happy - feeling going, oysters are a tremendous choice. They can be relied upon to instantly lend a decadent, celebratory air to any gathering. Gouging the hell out of your hands with an oyster knife, however, really does something to dampen the spirit of the thing. So before you try serving the dear little bivalves this season, study up on our trusty guide to shucking oysters. You'll thank us later.

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