"A portrait of my family, once a week, every week, in 2013."
Bella: Tastebuds tingling and moments away from devouring a cool, salty oyster.
A sea girl by my very nature, one of my favourite collection of memories came from growing up beside ocean rock pools, teaming with aquatic life. I was a qualified scuba diver with PADI by the time I was 14 and spent many weekends exploring the seemingly endless depths of our expansive blue oceans with my family. My father used to skin dive and occasionally he would bring home a dozen or so fresh oysters. He'd soak his dive gear in large white tubs in our backyard and shuck the oysters in the warm sun. I will always vividly remember my first oyster. Cool, salty and soft. It was one of the most curious and delicious flavours I had ever encountered.
My friends would screw up their young faces in disgust as I savoured every slow chew of the salty flesh.
Oysters aren't for everyone. For some, they're an acquired taste like strong black coffee or vintage red wine, whilst for others the concept of ingesting an oyster poses a threat too great for their gentle stomachs and taste buds to consider. For me however, the sweet, yet salty flesh sparks memories from the days I used to float through the cool Pacific waters, waiting eagerly as a young girl for her father to stride boldly out of the waves with a netted bag full of ocean treasures and sea delicacies.
Do you enjoy oysters? Do you recall the first time you tried one? I'd love to hear your thoughts, even if your face is screwed up in disgust like my young friends all those years ago.
My favourite pick from this week of the 52 project, as created by Jodi at
Che and Fidel comes from
Magical Days. I love the way the morning lights captures their
golden hair with a magical quality, one would expect in fairytales.
Bella xx
