Oyster Shooters - the idea is not to chew!

Oysters are another popular street food or appetizer in Trinidad and Tobago, especially among local men. In Trinidad, they are harvested mainly from the Claxton Bay Mangrove System. The species of oysters that are harvested there are “Crassostrea rhizophorae“. However, these bivalve mollusks are also harvested through out coastal areas in Trinidad (generally on the west coast). In recent years, the popularity of raw oysters has made the occupation of harvesting oysters a very lucrative business.

"Don’t mind we have the streetlight, the flambeau is the traditional light of the oyster-man: once you see the flambeau lighting, that mean the oyster-man is here in progress; any time you see the flambeau out, that mean it’s finished." Blackie - oyster vendor

Claxton Bay Mangrove

In Trinidad and Tobago, oysters generally are sold raw as a cocktail, served up with local seasonings, lime and of course pepper. Served by the glass holding one or two dozen oysters or, traditionally, on the opened half-shell, oysters in Trinidad are invariably accompanied by a seasoned, ceviche-like sauce in at least two, and often three, gradations: the possible “cool”; and the mandatory “mild” and “hot”. All three are likely to contain Trinidad’s omnipresent chadon beni (consider it cilantro-plus), lime juice, brown sugar, garlic, tomato ketchup and more; the amount of local hot peppers added is the difference between cool, mild and hot. Trinidadians, as a group, tend to be far closer to the fiery than the mild spectrum in matters of the palate. Be careful...!

Oyster shooter complete with Trinidad's very own Angostura bitters!

The secret is in the sauce!

The Queen's Park Savannah is the heart of Port of Spain. A huge open space between downtown and the Northern Range, it is the favourite haunt of joggers and walkers, footballers and cricketers, connoisseurs of coconuts, roast corn and oysters. A former sugar estate preserved for the people, here you can find Blackie as he is commonly known. An oyster vendor for the last 35 years....Blackie is a well-known the oyster man around the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain.