September 1, 2026 • 28 mins
What happens when you deep fry a MacBook, plate a military ration like it came out of a Michelin kitchen, and ask a doomsday prepper what's for dinner after civilization ends? George Duran sits down with Brooklyn-based artist and food photographer Henry Hargreaves, whose work turns food into a mirror for how we consume everything else. They get into Deep Fried Gadgets (and the one detail almost everyone missed), the strangest things Americans have actually battered and fried at state fairs — deep fried butter, deep fried Coca-Cola, pickle-topped Oreos — and a few new deep-fry ideas courtesy of ChatGPT that George is genuinely tempted to try.
Then it gets darker and stranger. Henry's Ready for Dinner series took him inside the pantries of doomsday preppers: the man growing tilapia and lettuce in a closed-loop ecosystem, the New Yorker with a bathroom full of water tanks waiting out a West Coast volcano, and the Hasidic prepper keeping a flock of rabbits he's technically not allowed to eat — unless his life depends on it. Plus, Henry's From MRE to Michelin project on the military's Meals Ready to Eat, why the world's best-funded military serves what he describes as tasting like "eating death," and why sealed World War II K-rations now sell for over a thousand dollars.
In the second half, chef, food historian and Market Price mobile oyster bar owner Willow Hubsher cracks open everything most of us get wrong about oysters — why they're more like wine than seafood, what actually separates East Coast from West Coast, how a bad oyster and a dangerous oyster are not the same thing, and the one mental switch that makes shucking stop being scary.
Key Takeaways
- The gadgets were never real. Henry built models of the iPhone, iPad and MacBook for Deep Fried Gadgets — partly thrift, partly because nobody wants to know what a lithium battery does in a deep fryer.
- Deep frying is a storytelling device, not a stunt. The series was about our relationship with technology mirroring our relationship with food: constant, excessive, a little unhealthy.
- State fairs have gone further than you think. Deep fried butter (Iowa, 2011), frozen ranch dressing balls, deep fried Coca-Cola (Texas, 2006), pickle-topped Golden Oreos (Indiana), panko-fried Jell-O, and bacon-cheddar mashed potatoes on a stick in Tulsa. Putting it on a stick "gives it legitimacy."
- Preppers weren't all who you'd expect. Henry interviewed people with wildly different apocalypse theories — and COVID lockdowns handed many of them a victory lap where they suddenly felt vindicated.
- The best prepper setup wasn't freeze-dried at all. One had a fully circular ecosystem: fast-growing tilapia whose water byproduct fed a lettuce crop. Tilapia and greens until the clock runs out.
- Food fight on the battlefield: Henry found the American MRE consistently among the least edible he sampled across militaries, despite the US having the world's best-funded military. The French and Russian rations were noticeably better considered.
- Ration collecting is a real market. An unopened early WWII K-ration runs about $395; a sealed supper unit $880; a complete dinner unit $1,000; a three-piece set around $1,400. The notorious "omelette with ham" — nicknamed the egg brick or the vomlet — was discontinued and became a collector's legend.
- An oyster isn't fishy. Willow describes it as "kissing the ocean" — salty, briny, ocean water with a bite. Steamed clams are far fishier.
- Oysters are terroir, like wine. Salinity, location, and weather events during the oyster's lifetime — a freeze, drought, deluge or hurricane — all shape flavor. Part nature, part nurture.
- East vs. West is oversimplified but useful. East Coast reads brinier (currents come up from the Caribbean); West Coast reads more metallic with a cucumber-melon finish (currents come down from Alaska). US East Coast oysters are best October through March; West Coast has less seasonality.
- Every oyster at a raw bar is alive. Stored properly, an oyster keeps three to four weeks from its harvest date — Great South Bay oysters were shipped alive to Buckingham Palace in the 1700s, before steam engines.
- A bad oyster and a dangerous oyster are not the same thing. Rot you can smell; parasites and bacteria you cannot screen for by taste or smell — which is exactly why pregnant women are advised to skip them.
- Don't purge oysters. Never submerge them in water — unlike mussels, they can drown. About 98% of oy
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(00:00):
They told me that I shouldmake deep fried french fries because
it's not fried enough. Yeah,they want me to batter the french
fries and fry it up.
It's double fry. I know. It'slike the inception of french fries.
Welcome to the Always Hangrypodcast, where we break down the
way we eat. The good, the bad,and the completely ridiculous. I'm
(00:22):
your host, George Duran. Ontoday's show, we're deep frying gadgets,
and then we get ready to eatlike the end of the world is coming.
And later on, we're opening upthe military's famous meals ready
to eat better known as MREs.And finally, we're shucking the truth
about oysters. The myths, therules, and everything you never knew
you needed to know. Joining menow is the artist and photographer
(00:45):
who's made a career out ofmaking food funny, fascinating, and
just a little bit disturbing,Henry Hargreaves. Henry, thanks for
being on the show.
Yeah, good morning, George.
I'd like to first know, whydid you make food? Why did you turn
food as your medium for your art?
It was accessible, it wascheap, and I thought the possibilities
of storytelling with it wereendless. And at the time, very few
(01:07):
people were doing that.
Have you seen the price of beef.
These days, though I'm a dad,I know all too well about the price
of more than you need to know.
You had a lot of interestingseries, something called Food Scans,
where you literally scannedall these fruits and vegetables,
power hungry cocktails offilms and literature. I love how
you're kind of being socreative and using food as that medium.
(01:30):
But one of the ones thatcertainly stood out for me was called
Deep fried Gadgets, where youdeep fried an iPad, an iPhone, hard
drives, even a MacBook. Whatare you trying to say here?
I mean, it was aboutconsumption and just this relationship
with technology, you know, andhow I think it mimics a lot of how
(01:50):
we have the similarrelationships with food.
Yeah, but why deep frying?
You know, I mean, that's oftenwhere a lot of the stuff starts.
It's like, hey, what's aninteresting story? What would look
cool and interesting? And whenthey come together, that's hopefully
when that magic, the secret sauce.
What was people's reactionswhen they saw that you could deep
fry gadgets?
Well, you know what the firstthing was, a lot of people were horrified
(02:12):
that I had, like ruined aniPhone and everything like that.
And actually the R and Ebeing, I made models of everything.
One, I'm much too thrifty toactually do it. Two, I Don't want
to know what happens when alithium battery goes in the deep
fryer and three, the screenswould die. And I wanted to be able
to sort of still do that. So Imade models and did that. So, yeah,
(02:37):
the main reaction was thatthen there's humor and then there's
the storytelling.
If you had to deep fry one ofthe newer gadgets today, something
a little bit out of theordinary, is there anything you can
think of that's different?
I don't know. Whatever. Forsome reason, those Kylie Jenner meta
glasses come to mind.
Okay, yeah. All right. So Idid some research and I found out
some of the weirdest foodsthat are deep fried at state fairs
(03:00):
here in the United States.Deep fried butter.
Okay.
Yeah. In 2011, at the IowaState Fair, a frozen butter stick
was dipped in a honey cinnamonbatter, deep fried and. And covered
with a sugary glaze.
Wow. Wow. I mean, there's aheart attack and a snack right there,
isn't it?
Man, you bite into it and likethis gush of butter comes in your
(03:22):
mouth.
Oh, yeah. I mean, don't knockit until you try it, I guess, but
I don't know if I'll be tryingit in a hurry.
Ranch dressing. Ranch isfrozen into balls.
Yep.
Battered and deep fried.
I mean. Okay, okay, okay.
Oh, this one's interestingbecause I've actually eaten this
one. Deep fried Coca Cola. In2006 at this Texas State Fair. I
was there and I saw them deepfried Coca Cola and the line was
(03:46):
out of control.
What do they do? Do theyfreeze it first and they.
Make a batter out of Coca Cola?
Okay, that's it.
So it's like this brownbattered fried thing and it kind
of tastes sweet. It didn'treally get that whole Coca Cola experience,
but it was still, you know,the whole idea of deep fried Coca
Cola.
Wow.
Pickle fried Oreos. At theIndiana State Fair, Golden Oreos
(04:06):
is topped with pickles.Battered and fried, my friend. I
would try that.
I would get down with that oneas well.
Yeah, that could beinteresting. A little sour. Sweet
battered fried. I mean, youcould batter anything and I'll eat
that. Jell O. At the TexasState Fair, they panko coated jello
and fried it. I don't know howthat even came out. Deep fried mashed
(04:29):
potatoes on a stick at thestate fair in Tulsa, Bacon cheddar
mashed potatoes are formedinto balls before being beer battered
fried and served on a stickwith. What else? Ranch dressing.
I think that'll be up there onone of the ones I would try to.
Anything on a stick is good.
Yeah, yeah, anything. It givesit legitimacy.
So I asked Chatgpt to come upsome few new ideas on what to deep
(04:50):
fry for the state fair. Okay,you ready? Deep fried avocado toast.
Okay, keep going, Keep going. Chat.
Deep fried cottage cheese.
Okay.
That protein trend is kicking.
Yeah, yeah.
Deep fried kimchi.
Okay.
I would totally do this. Youchop up the kimchi, you use the brine
in the batter, and it's like,kind of.
(05:11):
Yeah, I think there'ssomething about the texture there
and the delivery that I'mcurious about. Okay.
Yeah. A deep fried tuna tartare.
Okay. Yeah, same again.
It's not tartare anymore, bythe way. The tuna's cooked, so I
would say more like canned tuna.
Yeah.
And finally it told me that Ishould make deep fried french fries.
Because.
(05:31):
It's not fried enough. Yeah,they want me to batter the french
fries and fry it up.
Just double fry. I know. It'slike the inception of french fries.
I mean, look, if that was atthe state fair, I'd be pretty curious
to go on, like. Yeah. Allright, family, we're trying a few
things.
A series that really poppedout for me that you did was called
Ready for Dinner. And you wentto these doomsday preppers. Right?
(05:51):
These are people who prettymuch think the end of the world is
coming or they're gettingready for a major, you know, disaster
event. And these people havewhat they safeguarded food to use
in case the end of the world comes.
Yeah, exactly. And Iinterviewed a whole lot of preppers
who all had different theorieson what was gonna bring about the
end of the world. And I waslike, what will be your first meal
(06:13):
after, you know, after thecollapse of civilization? And it
was fascinating getting aninsight into their minds and how
they were prepping, why theirprep was the right thing, and how
they're gonna be eating for,you know, until. Until, you know,
the clock totally winds downfor them.
Were these people likeconspiracy theorists, like, out of
the. Or were they like regularfolk who were like, just in case?
(06:35):
Oh, yeah, it was. It was areal. It was a real wor hole I went
down. I actually had a friendwho produced a show on doomsday preppers
for National Geographic. Andshe said to me, do not go and interview
them. It's like we even withour film crew got locked in bunkers.
We got like, you know, the.The most. A lot of them are the most
paranoid people you canpossibly imagine. And. And the conversations
(07:00):
at the start to when you getthere totally flip. But yeah, it
was, it was, it was crazyhearing all these ones like, you
know, the Hasidic Jew who'sjust dying to break the, you know,
with his rabbit flock.
What do you mean? What do youmean by that?
He kept rabbits and you know,he's forbidden to eat them because
they're not kosher. And so.But if your life depends on it, you
(07:22):
can break the rules. And hekeeps this flock of rabbits. But
he was like, yeah, I'm gonnafinally be able to eat these rabbits
that I've been keeping.
That's insane. Were you ableto taste any of the food prepper
these foods?
Yeah, I did. I mean, because Irecreated all the meals so I got
a lot of them, you know, andthere's like crickets and.
Yeah, a lot of the foods arefreeze dried. Was there anything
that wasn't freeze dried thatwas like kind of fresh just sitting
(07:43):
there?
You know. One, one of themthat I loved was someone who had
a completely circularecosystem with tilapia. And they
grow so quick and from thebyproduct and in the water you can
grow a type of like lettuceleaf. And so basically they were
like tilapia and lettuceuntil, you know, the clock stops
for us. Well, I did thisseries shortly. It was still COVID
(08:06):
lockdown stuff was all goingon and a lot of them had a bit of
a victory lap that they werepretty happy with themselves. Like.
Yeah. Suddenly been seen aslike more like legitimate than. Yeah.
Were these the folks alsohoarding toilet paper and paper towels?
I'm sure.
So what I did is I looked intosome of the foods that are sold here
(08:27):
in the United States andhere's a list of the most ridiculous
doomsday survival food sold inthe us. Freeze dried scrambled eggs.
I mean, powdered butter. Ah, okay.
I would try that. I just wantto try it.
Yep. Okay.
Yeah. Would you like somepowdered butter on your freeze dried
toast? Survival meat buckets.
(08:51):
I mean that is a descriptionright there.
Did you see any of the bucketswith the survival meat? I mean, these
are all freeze dried meats.
Obviously the survival meat. Imean, I saw a bunch more like kind
of like weird pates and thingslike that. It's kind of how. I mean,
it's basically dog food.
Yeah. Do you have a contactwith any of these people? So in case
land of the world comes, youcan like run in and be like, hey,
(09:11):
remember me?
Yeah, I've still got thoseemail addresses hoarded there somewhere.
Freeze dried lasagna I lovethe creativity around this stuff.
Yeah.
Some of them though. There wasa guy who had just in his apartment
in New York and he had hiswhole bathroom filled with water
tanks. This guy thought therewas going to be a volcano eruption
on the west coast that wasgoing to block out the sun and he
(09:33):
was going to be in lockdownfor his apartment for however long
it took for the sun to breakback through. And he was gonna be
able to last several months.That it.
According to a 2025 CivicScience Survey, 35% of Americans
stockpile products fordoomsday scenario.
35? Well, every Mormon does.Oh, interesting. Part of the.
(09:54):
Yeah, sure, that's part of the35%. And also if you look at us politically,
35% makes sense.
Yeah.
77% of these people believethat they were likely to be affected
by a disaster within thecoming year.
Yeah, I mean there was a lotof. It's already happening as I was
talking to these people andthere's a lot of. There was a lot
(10:14):
of. It's the Chinese and likethe deep state and there's a lot
of that. That was. Yeah.
The most common stockpiledcategory was canned foods and frozen
foods, followed by toilet paper.
It is, it's an interestingone. People's relationship with toilet
paper.
Reuters recently reported thatapproximately 7 million households
could survive independentlyfor at least 31 days in a doomsday
(10:37):
scenario. 31 days. Do you have31 days worth of food? I mean, we're
from New York City. There's noway any of us have enough space for
31 days worth of food.
When you see when there's asnowstorm here and your truck can't
get there, it's like we'rebroken within hours, not days.
(11:14):
We're the first ones to go ina doomsday scenario, without a doubt.
Alright, we're gonna take aquick break, but when we come back,
we're opening up another oneof Henry's photographs. This time
it's the world of what else?MREs, the military's famous Meals
Ready to Eat. And later on,everything you think you know about
oysters might be wrong. We'reputting the biggest myths to the
test with one of the foremostexperts on oysters. Stick around.
(11:41):
Okay, we're back on AlwaysHangry. And we're with artist and
photographer Henry Hargreaves.One of the most famous fascinating
survival foods which wediscussed was MREs. It's meals ready
to Eat. It's those pouchesthat soldiers take with them. So
you did a photography Seriesof this. And what you did is you
purchased the MREs and thenwhat, photographed them?
Yeah, I was talking to a chefwho was a son of like, he grew up
(12:05):
on military bases, and hespoke about how his dad would bring
MREs home sometimes and he'dplay with them. And he was like,
you know, I've kind of alwayshad this fantasy of serving them
at the restaurant. And I justwas like, love that juxtaposition
of the soldiers getting fedkind of the worst imaginable food.
You know, here are the peopleon the front lines putting their
(12:27):
life in danger. And so I waslike, let's try and repurpose MREs
to look like Michelin meals.
You did a fantastic jobbecause you really. The plating was
like, succulent. It lookedlike perfection. Yeah, we kind of
have MREs at home with likethe beef jerky sticks and the canned
tunas. Like, that could be anmre. I mean, I pack lunch for my
kids every day for school, andI'm essentially making a MRE for
(12:49):
them. But meals ready to eatfrom the military side is a whole
different ballgame. What kindof foods did you find with the MREs?
I mean, that's what I love wasthese are, you know, this is the
military being like, this iswhat we think you should be eating.
I'm going to curate theseMREs. And then I was like, let's
see how different militariesdo it. I got to say, the American
(13:10):
was consistently one of themost inedible MREs across the board.
And, you know, you're like,here we are, the most well funded
military, you know, operationin the world with the worst food.
And I again, just love thatyou feed people how you feel about
them.
Was there another country thatsurprised you on the other spectrum?
Like, you were like, thislooks amazing.
(13:30):
Yeah, I mean, like, I mean, nosurprise. The French one was, you
know, very much like crackersand it, you know, with like patties
and things. I mean, even theRussian one was pretty well thought
out. I loved how I was able torelate to people in other militaries.
Like, with what's going onwith Russia, I'm like, you know,
this is what they're gettingon the front lines and suddenly you
realize it's like an 18 yearold kid who knows no better. This
(13:52):
is the, this is the mostexciting part of their day, is opening
this up and getting that.
The Russian MRE had pork brainwith potato stew next to a beef stew
with red sauce.
Yeah.
Kind of like a yin yang thinggoing on. There. Pork brain and beef
stew. Interesting fact. One ofthe most requested MREs from soldiers
is pepperoni pizza. So in2018, scientists finally cracked
(14:14):
it and introduced theBridgeford pepperoni and cheese MRE
pizza. Good for three years,doesn't require heating, and looks
remarkably like cafeteria pizza.
Oh, wow. Shocking.
Yum. Who says there's noinnovation in the military? Why aren't
we taking care of our soldierswith the quality of MREs that we're
giving them?
I mean, look, it sort of comesback to the largest catering company
(14:37):
in the world does the schools,prisons, and hospitals here in the
US and it's just lowest commondenominator across the board. And
the military in there too.
Yeah. One of the mostunpopular MREs ever invented was
the omelette with ham.Soldiers would call it the egg brick
or the vomlet. It disappearedafter years of terrible reviews and
(14:59):
became a military legend. Ithas since become a collector's item
among MRE enthusiasts. Theyare people who collect these MREs.
Yeah, I know, I know. I'vedone a little set on the sidelines
and looked at that, and yeah,.
One of the most popular onesis called First Strike Ration. It's
designed for a soldier whodoesn't have time to stop and eat.
(15:20):
It has 2,900 calories. It hasa bacon cheddar sandwich, pepperoni
pocket sandwich, beef jerky,applesauce, energy bars, pretzels,
and caffeinated gum. Do youhave MREs at home?
You know what? As you saidthat question. Yeah. I've got a storeroom
next to my studio and I've gotMREs. I mean, mainly because who
(15:40):
knows when I'm gonna need themfor the next project? But I am like,
you know what? They're thereif they need them to.
And some of these have heatingelements in them, right?
Yeah. The US One had heatingelements in them. Yeah. Add water
and something and a chemicalreaction happens.
So here's some things on thecurrent menus for meals ready to
eat or MREs with the military.Chili with beans, beef barbecue cheese
(16:02):
tortellini, chicken burritobowl. That'll be interesting. Beef
ravioli, Mexican style,chicken stew, maple pork sausage,
hash browns, jalapeno cheesespread, chocolate pudding and lemon
poppy seed pound cake.
What they say they are. Whenyou open these up, they only resemble
(16:24):
it in words. These are. Imean. I mean, the only way I can
describe eating some of thesewas I felt like I was eating death.
What that is how unappetizingthey are when you open up some of
these.
But the vintage ones are theones that cost the most. Like, those
are the ones people arelooking out for. So here's a list
(16:47):
of the Most sought out MREsand their asking prices. An unopened
early World War II K ration,$395 sealed World War II K rations,
supper unit is $880.
Oh, man.
A complete World War II dinnerunit is $1,000. And if you have a
(17:07):
three piece World War II Kration set, it's $1,400.
I mean, that three piece unit, by.
The way, includes three cannedentrees, six packets of biscuits,
coffee, powdered fruit drinkand bouillon, candy and chocolate,
three packets of gum, 12cigarettes and matches and toilet
paper. I feel like we endeverything with toilet paper.
(17:29):
I mean, look. Yeah, full circle.
And. Yeah, and we've come tothe end of this interview too. Henry
Hargreaves, thanks so much forbeing on Always Hangry. Where can
people actually find you?
Henryhargreeves.com or justGoogle me. You'll find all the socials
from there.
(18:04):
Thanks so much, HenryHargreaves. Up next, oyster expert
Willow Hubsher joins us tocrack open some of the biggest myths
about oysters and reveal whatmost of us have been getting wrong.
We'll be right back. Welcomeback to Always Hangry. Today we're
cracking open the myths,facts, flavors and mysteries of oysters
(18:26):
with a chef, food historian,oyster expert, and owner of the Mobile
Oyster Bar Market Price,Willow Hibsher. Willow, how are you?
I am doing great. Thanks somuch for having me.
George, for someone who'snever had oysters before or doesn't
like oysters, when you open anoyster, it's relatively ugly. I would
(18:47):
say it's just some alienlooking thing that I have to eat.
For someone who doesn't knowit or doesn't like it, how would
you describe what an oyster is?
I mean, this is a bit morepoetic, but I always say it's like
kissing the ocean. It's salty,but it's not fishy. I think people
get this idea in their headthat it's gonna taste like, you know,
(19:08):
mackerel or even like steamedclams. I would describe as a lot
fishier than an oyster, whichkind of just tastes like ocean water
if ocean water had a bite to it.
Two oysters don't taste thesame, like from different areas.
Is it the species or thewater? Why do some oysters taste
different?
Oysters are very like wine inthat. Imagine having a California
(19:30):
Chardonnay and a FrenchChardonnay are going to be very different.
Even two Chardonnays fromFrance, from villages across a river,
could express super, superdifferently. So with oysters, everything
from where it's grown, thesalinity of where it's grown, all
oysters grow in brackishwater. But weather events that happen
(19:52):
during that oyster's lifetime,so a freeze, a drought, a deluge,
a hurricane can all affectthat oyster's taste. And so oyster
taste is part nature, part nurture.
But there is a significantdifference between east coast and
west coast when it comes toflavor. What are those flavors that
we're tasting and what do weget on each.
(20:13):
Coast in the most base way tosay it, People like to say east coast
is briny, west coast iscreamy. I think that's a dramatic
oversimplification. But, youknow, that is kind of a way to think
about it. I would say thatwest coast oysters are distinctly
more metallic, and theygenerally have that cucumber y melony
(20:35):
aftertaste to them. East coastoysters are generally brinier. The
currents on either side ofAmerica both go clockwise. So on
the west coast, they're comingdown from Alaska. On the east coast,
they're coming up from theCaribbean. And that's why swimming
in the ocean in North Carolinais a lot more pleasant than swimming
in the ocean in la. So in theUS there's more seasonality to our
(20:58):
oysters because the watertemperature fluctuates a little bit
more. They can be year round,but they are best October to March.
Yeah.
And on the west coast, theyhave an advantage in that they don't
have quite the sameseasonality. You get like, a creamier
oyster year round.
Would you recommend forsomeone who's ordering oysters if
they're closer to the eastcoast to order the east coast oysters?
(21:20):
Because something about flyingoysters all the way from the west
coast to the east coast thatmaybe the quality degrades.
Oysters have an incredibleshelf life. Oysters on the east coast
have a little bit better thanWest Coast. But oysters from the
great South Bay, which is thebay right off of Long island, were
being shipped in the 1700sbefore steam engines alive to Buckingham
(21:41):
palace and being served on thehalf shell. If I'm storing oysters
right in my fridge, I can keepan oyster for almost three to four
weeks from its harvest date.Every oyster that I have in my fridge
right now, every oysterhanging out at a raw bar before it's
shucked, is alive.
I have a problem with going toWellfleet in Cape Cod and buying
(22:03):
oysters that are double theprice than you would buy them outside
of Wellfleet. What does it sayabout our society and our relationship
to food?
It makes sense to me thatpeople are paying for the privilege
of being able to say, I gotthis from right where it was harvested.
And paying for the privilegeof being able to post that I got
(22:23):
this from right where it washarvested. I think especially with
food, especially with luxuryfood, we live in a, you know, content
based machine. And you have toconsider that when you're talking
about everything fromingredients to restaurants to home
cooks, that being able to makea story of something, and I'm talking
(22:45):
a literal Instagram story ofsomething, is a cachet that people
are willing to pay for. Ithink that there's something to be
said, not necessarily anegative thing, to paying for ambiance.
And that's why we pay more togo eat at a restaurant. I mean, I
like to go to my local winebar, have a glass of wine that I
could get, in some cases thesame price that I could get a bottle
(23:08):
at my house. But I likesitting at the bar where they've
curated the music and there'speople around in their pretty chairs
and I get to not be in myhouse and I'm okay paying for that.
That's part of the budget.That's why I'm at a restaurant.
Have you ever had a badoyster? And what does a bad oyster
taste like?
Yes, for sure, I've had badoysters. A bad oyster. And there's.
(23:30):
It's a spectrum. There's someoysters where I will get a bag of
100 oysters and I can smellfrom holding the bag, you know, 10
inches from my face. At leastone oyster in here is bad. And I'm
not gonna know until I get toit. And then there's oysters where
I'll pop it open and I'll say,I don't know. And it smells a little
(23:52):
bit like a rotten egg. Andthen there's some. Where as soon
as that oyster pops, you'relike, let's put this in the trash.
And then let's take the trashout. It's terrible. The stuff that's
going to make you actuallysick from an oyster are not things
you can taste parasites andbacteria, which you cannot screen
for. The rotten oyster isgoing to taste gross. And if you
(24:14):
have a sensitive stomach, youmight puke once. But the stuff that
people are worried aboutgetting, like real food poisoning,
that is not something you can smell.
And that's why they askpregnant women not to eat oysters,
to not take that risk.
Exactly.
Is there a proper way to openan oyster? Is there a trick, anything
you can help us with that?
Yeah, for sure. I always saythere is no wrong way to open an
(24:37):
oyster. As long as theoyster's open, it looks pretty and
you don't hurt yourself.That's the three criteria.
I failed all three.
I think that my few pieces ofadvice. I teach shucking classes.
I've never had anyone hurtthemselves in a shucking class, which
is great. I think it's a loteasier than people realize, especially
(24:59):
with the right tools. And Ithink thinking about that, it's not
about the sharpness, it's notabout getting in there. It's about
using a crowbar essentially toopen the shell. And I think once
people kind of make thatswitch in their mind, it's a less
scary and be a little biteasier to conceptualize.
(25:20):
Yeah. What is the best toppingfor an oyster? I'll tell you what
mine is, but I want to seewhat your opinion is. Your best thing
to put on an.
Oyster in the winter, a reallygood oyster. I'm not topping it with
anything. I'm a purist. Ithink that the best toppings should
all be acid based. Soespecially on the east coast, we
(25:42):
are dealing with a reallybriny thing. And acid is kind of
the combat to brine. I don't.My personal choice is either lemon
or mignonette.
And if you don't know what amignonette is, it's a red wine vinegar
with shallots often. Andsometimes I see cucumbers and other
herbs in it.
So any real vinegar, choppedallium sauce, can be called a mignonette.
(26:06):
It's safe to say that alloysters are farmed this day and age.
People aren't just going outthere and getting wild oysters.
You should not be harvestingwild oysters unless you really know
what you're doing. 98% ofoysters you come into contact with
are going to be farmed.
And do I need to purge oystersas well after I purchase them, like
you do with the mussels?
No, no. You should never besubmerging oysters in water, especially
(26:30):
because oysters, well, a. Theycan drown. It's the same with. If
you see lobster tanks at agrocery store, they've got bubblers
going. There is oxygen movingthrough that water.
Let's talk a little bit aboutmarket price, which is the name of
your mobile oyster bar. Whaton earth is a mobile oyster bar?
Yeah, so we. I worked as achef in New York for a bunch of years,
(26:52):
I kind of decided I didn'twant to be an executive chef at a
restaurant. That wasn't mypassion, my path. And I realized
I really want to be guestfacing, but I still want to do food.
And oysters are kind of thisunique food that you do while you're
talking to people. And so Istarted doing oyster wine tastings
on my apartment roof aboutthree years ago. And since then it's
(27:17):
evolved into mostly privateparties. We still do pop ups and
we do shucking classes.
How fast can you shuck an oyster?
I will always say I'm not aspeed shucker, but what I can do
is hold a conversation while Ishuck, which a lot of speed shuckers
cannot do. I generally budgetmyself about 60 oysters in 20 minutes.
(27:45):
Wow.
Wow.
That's impressive.
If I'm going. If I'm goinggenerally, I would say, yeah, an
oyster every 30 seconds. IfI'm just kind of being leisurely
about it.
I found you on social mediaTell others where you're essentially
educating folks about oysterson social media.
Yeah, you can find me onInstagram and TikTok, Market Price
bk and you can sign up for ouremails on our website marketpricebk.com
(28:11):
to have access to all of ourpop ups and classes and merch.
Fantastic Chef Willow Hubsherfrom the Mobile Oyster Bar. Like
she said, market price. Youcan find out more about market price
at marketpricebk.com thanks somuch for being on Always Hangry.
Thank you so much. This was sofun and thanks to.
All of you for listening. Ifyou enjoyed today's episode, be sure
(28:33):
to follow the Always Hangrypodcast wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also visitalwayshangrypodcast.com for the latest
episodes, updates and muchmore. I'm George Duran. Until next
time, stay hungry.
They told me that I shouldmake deep fried french fries because
it's not fried enough. Yeah,they want me to batter the french
fries and fry it up.
It's double fry. I know. It'slike the inception of french fries.
Welcome to the Always Hangrypodcast, where we break down the
way we eat. The good, the bad,and the completely ridiculous. I'm
(00:22):
your host, George Duran. Ontoday's show, we're deep frying gadgets,
and then we get ready to eatlike the end of the world is coming.
And later on, we're opening upthe military's famous meals ready
to eat better known as MREs.And finally, we're shucking the truth
about oysters. The myths, therules, and everything you never knew
you needed to know. Joining menow is the artist and photographer
(00:45):
who's made a career out ofmaking food funny, fascinating, and
just a little bit disturbing,Henry Hargreaves. Henry, thanks for
being on the show.
Yeah, good morning, George.
I'd like to first know, whydid you make food? Why did you turn
food as your medium for your art?
It was accessible, it wascheap, and I thought the possibilities
of storytelling with it wereendless. And at the time, very few
(01:07):
people were doing that.
Have you seen the price of beef.
These days, though I'm a dad,I know all too well about the price
of more than you need to know.
You had a lot of interestingseries, something called Food Scans,
where you literally scannedall these fruits and vegetables,
power hungry cocktails offilms and literature. I love how
you're kind of being socreative and using food as that medium.
(01:30):
But one of the ones thatcertainly stood out for me was called
Deep fried Gadgets, where youdeep fried an iPad, an iPhone, hard
drives, even a MacBook. Whatare you trying to say here?
I mean, it was aboutconsumption and just this relationship
with technology, you know, andhow I think it mimics a lot of how
(01:50):
we have the similarrelationships with food.
Yeah, but why deep frying?
You know, I mean, that's oftenwhere a lot of the stuff starts.
It's like, hey, what's aninteresting story? What would look
cool and interesting? And whenthey come together, that's hopefully
when that magic, the secret sauce.
What was people's reactionswhen they saw that you could deep
fry gadgets?
Well, you know what the firstthing was, a lot of people were horrified
(02:12):
that I had, like ruined aniPhone and everything like that.
And actually the R and Ebeing, I made models of everything.
One, I'm much too thrifty toactually do it. Two, I Don't want
to know what happens when alithium battery goes in the deep
fryer and three, the screenswould die. And I wanted to be able
to sort of still do that. So Imade models and did that. So, yeah,
(02:37):
the main reaction was thatthen there's humor and then there's
the storytelling.
If you had to deep fry one ofthe newer gadgets today, something
a little bit out of theordinary, is there anything you can
think of that's different?
I don't know. Whatever. Forsome reason, those Kylie Jenner meta
glasses come to mind.
Okay, yeah. All right. So Idid some research and I found out
some of the weirdest foodsthat are deep fried at state fairs
(03:00):
here in the United States.Deep fried butter.
Okay.
Yeah. In 2011, at the IowaState Fair, a frozen butter stick
was dipped in a honey cinnamonbatter, deep fried and. And covered
with a sugary glaze.
Wow. Wow. I mean, there's aheart attack and a snack right there,
isn't it?
Man, you bite into it and likethis gush of butter comes in your
(03:22):
mouth.
Oh, yeah. I mean, don't knockit until you try it, I guess, but
I don't know if I'll be tryingit in a hurry.
Ranch dressing. Ranch isfrozen into balls.
Yep.
Battered and deep fried.
I mean. Okay, okay, okay.
Oh, this one's interestingbecause I've actually eaten this
one. Deep fried Coca Cola. In2006 at this Texas State Fair. I
was there and I saw them deepfried Coca Cola and the line was
(03:46):
out of control.
What do they do? Do theyfreeze it first and they.
Make a batter out of Coca Cola?
Okay, that's it.
So it's like this brownbattered fried thing and it kind
of tastes sweet. It didn'treally get that whole Coca Cola experience,
but it was still, you know,the whole idea of deep fried Coca
Cola.
Wow.
Pickle fried Oreos. At theIndiana State Fair, Golden Oreos
(04:06):
is topped with pickles.Battered and fried, my friend. I
would try that.
I would get down with that oneas well.
Yeah, that could beinteresting. A little sour. Sweet
battered fried. I mean, youcould batter anything and I'll eat
that. Jell O. At the TexasState Fair, they panko coated jello
and fried it. I don't know howthat even came out. Deep fried mashed
(04:29):
potatoes on a stick at thestate fair in Tulsa, Bacon cheddar
mashed potatoes are formedinto balls before being beer battered
fried and served on a stickwith. What else? Ranch dressing.
I think that'll be up there onone of the ones I would try to.
Anything on a stick is good.
Yeah, yeah, anything. It givesit legitimacy.
So I asked Chatgpt to come upsome few new ideas on what to deep
(04:50):
fry for the state fair. Okay,you ready? Deep fried avocado toast.
Okay, keep going, Keep going. Chat.
Deep fried cottage cheese.
Okay.
That protein trend is kicking.
Yeah, yeah.
Deep fried kimchi.
Okay.
I would totally do this. Youchop up the kimchi, you use the brine
in the batter, and it's like,kind of.
(05:11):
Yeah, I think there'ssomething about the texture there
and the delivery that I'mcurious about. Okay.
Yeah. A deep fried tuna tartare.
Okay. Yeah, same again.
It's not tartare anymore, bythe way. The tuna's cooked, so I
would say more like canned tuna.
Yeah.
And finally it told me that Ishould make deep fried french fries.
Because.
(05:31):
It's not fried enough. Yeah,they want me to batter the french
fries and fry it up.
Just double fry. I know. It'slike the inception of french fries.
I mean, look, if that was atthe state fair, I'd be pretty curious
to go on, like. Yeah. Allright, family, we're trying a few
things.
A series that really poppedout for me that you did was called
Ready for Dinner. And you wentto these doomsday preppers. Right?
(05:51):
These are people who prettymuch think the end of the world is
coming or they're gettingready for a major, you know, disaster
event. And these people havewhat they safeguarded food to use
in case the end of the world comes.
Yeah, exactly. And Iinterviewed a whole lot of preppers
who all had different theorieson what was gonna bring about the
end of the world. And I waslike, what will be your first meal
(06:13):
after, you know, after thecollapse of civilization? And it
was fascinating getting aninsight into their minds and how
they were prepping, why theirprep was the right thing, and how
they're gonna be eating for,you know, until. Until, you know,
the clock totally winds downfor them.
Were these people likeconspiracy theorists, like, out of
the. Or were they like regularfolk who were like, just in case?
(06:35):
Oh, yeah, it was. It was areal. It was a real wor hole I went
down. I actually had a friendwho produced a show on doomsday preppers
for National Geographic. Andshe said to me, do not go and interview
them. It's like we even withour film crew got locked in bunkers.
We got like, you know, the.The most. A lot of them are the most
paranoid people you canpossibly imagine. And. And the conversations
(07:00):
at the start to when you getthere totally flip. But yeah, it
was, it was, it was crazyhearing all these ones like, you
know, the Hasidic Jew who'sjust dying to break the, you know,
with his rabbit flock.
What do you mean? What do youmean by that?
He kept rabbits and you know,he's forbidden to eat them because
they're not kosher. And so.But if your life depends on it, you
(07:22):
can break the rules. And hekeeps this flock of rabbits. But
he was like, yeah, I'm gonnafinally be able to eat these rabbits
that I've been keeping.
That's insane. Were you ableto taste any of the food prepper
these foods?
Yeah, I did. I mean, because Irecreated all the meals so I got
a lot of them, you know, andthere's like crickets and.
Yeah, a lot of the foods arefreeze dried. Was there anything
that wasn't freeze dried thatwas like kind of fresh just sitting
(07:43):
there?
You know. One, one of themthat I loved was someone who had
a completely circularecosystem with tilapia. And they
grow so quick and from thebyproduct and in the water you can
grow a type of like lettuceleaf. And so basically they were
like tilapia and lettuceuntil, you know, the clock stops
for us. Well, I did thisseries shortly. It was still COVID
(08:06):
lockdown stuff was all goingon and a lot of them had a bit of
a victory lap that they werepretty happy with themselves. Like.
Yeah. Suddenly been seen aslike more like legitimate than. Yeah.
Were these the folks alsohoarding toilet paper and paper towels?
I'm sure.
So what I did is I looked intosome of the foods that are sold here
(08:27):
in the United States andhere's a list of the most ridiculous
doomsday survival food sold inthe us. Freeze dried scrambled eggs.
I mean, powdered butter. Ah, okay.
I would try that. I just wantto try it.
Yep. Okay.
Yeah. Would you like somepowdered butter on your freeze dried
toast? Survival meat buckets.
(08:51):
I mean that is a descriptionright there.
Did you see any of the bucketswith the survival meat? I mean, these
are all freeze dried meats.
Obviously the survival meat. Imean, I saw a bunch more like kind
of like weird pates and thingslike that. It's kind of how. I mean,
it's basically dog food.
Yeah. Do you have a contactwith any of these people? So in case
land of the world comes, youcan like run in and be like, hey,
(09:11):
remember me?
Yeah, I've still got thoseemail addresses hoarded there somewhere.
Freeze dried lasagna I lovethe creativity around this stuff.
Yeah.
Some of them though. There wasa guy who had just in his apartment
in New York and he had hiswhole bathroom filled with water
tanks. This guy thought therewas going to be a volcano eruption
on the west coast that wasgoing to block out the sun and he
(09:33):
was going to be in lockdownfor his apartment for however long
it took for the sun to breakback through. And he was gonna be
able to last several months.That it.
According to a 2025 CivicScience Survey, 35% of Americans
stockpile products fordoomsday scenario.
35? Well, every Mormon does.Oh, interesting. Part of the.
(09:54):
Yeah, sure, that's part of the35%. And also if you look at us politically,
35% makes sense.
Yeah.
77% of these people believethat they were likely to be affected
by a disaster within thecoming year.
Yeah, I mean there was a lotof. It's already happening as I was
talking to these people andthere's a lot of. There was a lot
(10:14):
of. It's the Chinese and likethe deep state and there's a lot
of that. That was. Yeah.
The most common stockpiledcategory was canned foods and frozen
foods, followed by toilet paper.
It is, it's an interestingone. People's relationship with toilet
paper.
Reuters recently reported thatapproximately 7 million households
could survive independentlyfor at least 31 days in a doomsday
(10:37):
scenario. 31 days. Do you have31 days worth of food? I mean, we're
from New York City. There's noway any of us have enough space for
31 days worth of food.
When you see when there's asnowstorm here and your truck can't
get there, it's like we'rebroken within hours, not days.
(11:14):
We're the first ones to go ina doomsday scenario, without a doubt.
Alright, we're gonna take aquick break, but when we come back,
we're opening up another oneof Henry's photographs. This time
it's the world of what else?MREs, the military's famous Meals
Ready to Eat. And later on,everything you think you know about
oysters might be wrong. We'reputting the biggest myths to the
test with one of the foremostexperts on oysters. Stick around.
(11:41):
Okay, we're back on AlwaysHangry. And we're with artist and
photographer Henry Hargreaves.One of the most famous fascinating
survival foods which wediscussed was MREs. It's meals ready
to Eat. It's those pouchesthat soldiers take with them. So
you did a photography Seriesof this. And what you did is you
purchased the MREs and thenwhat, photographed them?
Yeah, I was talking to a chefwho was a son of like, he grew up
(12:05):
on military bases, and hespoke about how his dad would bring
MREs home sometimes and he'dplay with them. And he was like,
you know, I've kind of alwayshad this fantasy of serving them
at the restaurant. And I justwas like, love that juxtaposition
of the soldiers getting fedkind of the worst imaginable food.
You know, here are the peopleon the front lines putting their
(12:27):
life in danger. And so I waslike, let's try and repurpose MREs
to look like Michelin meals.
You did a fantastic jobbecause you really. The plating was
like, succulent. It lookedlike perfection. Yeah, we kind of
have MREs at home with likethe beef jerky sticks and the canned
tunas. Like, that could be anmre. I mean, I pack lunch for my
kids every day for school, andI'm essentially making a MRE for
(12:49):
them. But meals ready to eatfrom the military side is a whole
different ballgame. What kindof foods did you find with the MREs?
I mean, that's what I love wasthese are, you know, this is the
military being like, this iswhat we think you should be eating.
I'm going to curate theseMREs. And then I was like, let's
see how different militariesdo it. I got to say, the American
(13:10):
was consistently one of themost inedible MREs across the board.
And, you know, you're like,here we are, the most well funded
military, you know, operationin the world with the worst food.
And I again, just love thatyou feed people how you feel about
them.
Was there another country thatsurprised you on the other spectrum?
Like, you were like, thislooks amazing.
(13:30):
Yeah, I mean, like, I mean, nosurprise. The French one was, you
know, very much like crackersand it, you know, with like patties
and things. I mean, even theRussian one was pretty well thought
out. I loved how I was able torelate to people in other militaries.
Like, with what's going onwith Russia, I'm like, you know,
this is what they're gettingon the front lines and suddenly you
realize it's like an 18 yearold kid who knows no better. This
(13:52):
is the, this is the mostexciting part of their day, is opening
this up and getting that.
The Russian MRE had pork brainwith potato stew next to a beef stew
with red sauce.
Yeah.
Kind of like a yin yang thinggoing on. There. Pork brain and beef
stew. Interesting fact. One ofthe most requested MREs from soldiers
is pepperoni pizza. So in2018, scientists finally cracked
(14:14):
it and introduced theBridgeford pepperoni and cheese MRE
pizza. Good for three years,doesn't require heating, and looks
remarkably like cafeteria pizza.
Oh, wow. Shocking.
Yum. Who says there's noinnovation in the military? Why aren't
we taking care of our soldierswith the quality of MREs that we're
giving them?
I mean, look, it sort of comesback to the largest catering company
(14:37):
in the world does the schools,prisons, and hospitals here in the
US and it's just lowest commondenominator across the board. And
the military in there too.
Yeah. One of the mostunpopular MREs ever invented was
the omelette with ham.Soldiers would call it the egg brick
or the vomlet. It disappearedafter years of terrible reviews and
(14:59):
became a military legend. Ithas since become a collector's item
among MRE enthusiasts. Theyare people who collect these MREs.
Yeah, I know, I know. I'vedone a little set on the sidelines
and looked at that, and yeah,.
One of the most popular onesis called First Strike Ration. It's
designed for a soldier whodoesn't have time to stop and eat.
(15:20):
It has 2,900 calories. It hasa bacon cheddar sandwich, pepperoni
pocket sandwich, beef jerky,applesauce, energy bars, pretzels,
and caffeinated gum. Do youhave MREs at home?
You know what? As you saidthat question. Yeah. I've got a storeroom
next to my studio and I've gotMREs. I mean, mainly because who
(15:40):
knows when I'm gonna need themfor the next project? But I am like,
you know what? They're thereif they need them to.
And some of these have heatingelements in them, right?
Yeah. The US One had heatingelements in them. Yeah. Add water
and something and a chemicalreaction happens.
So here's some things on thecurrent menus for meals ready to
eat or MREs with the military.Chili with beans, beef barbecue cheese
(16:02):
tortellini, chicken burritobowl. That'll be interesting. Beef
ravioli, Mexican style,chicken stew, maple pork sausage,
hash browns, jalapeno cheesespread, chocolate pudding and lemon
poppy seed pound cake.
What they say they are. Whenyou open these up, they only resemble
(16:24):
it in words. These are. Imean. I mean, the only way I can
describe eating some of thesewas I felt like I was eating death.
What that is how unappetizingthey are when you open up some of
these.
But the vintage ones are theones that cost the most. Like, those
are the ones people arelooking out for. So here's a list
(16:47):
of the Most sought out MREsand their asking prices. An unopened
early World War II K ration,$395 sealed World War II K rations,
supper unit is $880.
Oh, man.
A complete World War II dinnerunit is $1,000. And if you have a
(17:07):
three piece World War II Kration set, it's $1,400.
I mean, that three piece unit, by.
The way, includes three cannedentrees, six packets of biscuits,
coffee, powdered fruit drinkand bouillon, candy and chocolate,
three packets of gum, 12cigarettes and matches and toilet
paper. I feel like we endeverything with toilet paper.
(17:29):
I mean, look. Yeah, full circle.
And. Yeah, and we've come tothe end of this interview too. Henry
Hargreaves, thanks so much forbeing on Always Hangry. Where can
people actually find you?
Henryhargreeves.com or justGoogle me. You'll find all the socials
from there.
(18:04):
Thanks so much, HenryHargreaves. Up next, oyster expert
Willow Hubsher joins us tocrack open some of the biggest myths
about oysters and reveal whatmost of us have been getting wrong.
We'll be right back. Welcomeback to Always Hangry. Today we're
cracking open the myths,facts, flavors and mysteries of oysters
(18:26):
with a chef, food historian,oyster expert, and owner of the Mobile
Oyster Bar Market Price,Willow Hibsher. Willow, how are you?
I am doing great. Thanks somuch for having me.
George, for someone who'snever had oysters before or doesn't
like oysters, when you open anoyster, it's relatively ugly. I would
(18:47):
say it's just some alienlooking thing that I have to eat.
For someone who doesn't knowit or doesn't like it, how would
you describe what an oyster is?
I mean, this is a bit morepoetic, but I always say it's like
kissing the ocean. It's salty,but it's not fishy. I think people
get this idea in their headthat it's gonna taste like, you know,
(19:08):
mackerel or even like steamedclams. I would describe as a lot
fishier than an oyster, whichkind of just tastes like ocean water
if ocean water had a bite to it.
Two oysters don't taste thesame, like from different areas.
Is it the species or thewater? Why do some oysters taste
different?
Oysters are very like wine inthat. Imagine having a California
(19:30):
Chardonnay and a FrenchChardonnay are going to be very different.
Even two Chardonnays fromFrance, from villages across a river,
could express super, superdifferently. So with oysters, everything
from where it's grown, thesalinity of where it's grown, all
oysters grow in brackishwater. But weather events that happen
(19:52):
during that oyster's lifetime,so a freeze, a drought, a deluge,
a hurricane can all affectthat oyster's taste. And so oyster
taste is part nature, part nurture.
But there is a significantdifference between east coast and
west coast when it comes toflavor. What are those flavors that
we're tasting and what do weget on each.
(20:13):
Coast in the most base way tosay it, People like to say east coast
is briny, west coast iscreamy. I think that's a dramatic
oversimplification. But, youknow, that is kind of a way to think
about it. I would say thatwest coast oysters are distinctly
more metallic, and theygenerally have that cucumber y melony
(20:35):
aftertaste to them. East coastoysters are generally brinier. The
currents on either side ofAmerica both go clockwise. So on
the west coast, they're comingdown from Alaska. On the east coast,
they're coming up from theCaribbean. And that's why swimming
in the ocean in North Carolinais a lot more pleasant than swimming
in the ocean in la. So in theUS there's more seasonality to our
(20:58):
oysters because the watertemperature fluctuates a little bit
more. They can be year round,but they are best October to March.
Yeah.
And on the west coast, theyhave an advantage in that they don't
have quite the sameseasonality. You get like, a creamier
oyster year round.
Would you recommend forsomeone who's ordering oysters if
they're closer to the eastcoast to order the east coast oysters?
(21:20):
Because something about flyingoysters all the way from the west
coast to the east coast thatmaybe the quality degrades.
Oysters have an incredibleshelf life. Oysters on the east coast
have a little bit better thanWest Coast. But oysters from the
great South Bay, which is thebay right off of Long island, were
being shipped in the 1700sbefore steam engines alive to Buckingham
(21:41):
palace and being served on thehalf shell. If I'm storing oysters
right in my fridge, I can keepan oyster for almost three to four
weeks from its harvest date.Every oyster that I have in my fridge
right now, every oysterhanging out at a raw bar before it's
shucked, is alive.
I have a problem with going toWellfleet in Cape Cod and buying
(22:03):
oysters that are double theprice than you would buy them outside
of Wellfleet. What does it sayabout our society and our relationship
to food?
It makes sense to me thatpeople are paying for the privilege
of being able to say, I gotthis from right where it was harvested.
And paying for the privilegeof being able to post that I got
(22:23):
this from right where it washarvested. I think especially with
food, especially with luxuryfood, we live in a, you know, content
based machine. And you have toconsider that when you're talking
about everything fromingredients to restaurants to home
cooks, that being able to makea story of something, and I'm talking
(22:45):
a literal Instagram story ofsomething, is a cachet that people
are willing to pay for. Ithink that there's something to be
said, not necessarily anegative thing, to paying for ambiance.
And that's why we pay more togo eat at a restaurant. I mean, I
like to go to my local winebar, have a glass of wine that I
could get, in some cases thesame price that I could get a bottle
(23:08):
at my house. But I likesitting at the bar where they've
curated the music and there'speople around in their pretty chairs
and I get to not be in myhouse and I'm okay paying for that.
That's part of the budget.That's why I'm at a restaurant.
Have you ever had a badoyster? And what does a bad oyster
taste like?
Yes, for sure, I've had badoysters. A bad oyster. And there's.
(23:30):
It's a spectrum. There's someoysters where I will get a bag of
100 oysters and I can smellfrom holding the bag, you know, 10
inches from my face. At leastone oyster in here is bad. And I'm
not gonna know until I get toit. And then there's oysters where
I'll pop it open and I'll say,I don't know. And it smells a little
(23:52):
bit like a rotten egg. Andthen there's some. Where as soon
as that oyster pops, you'relike, let's put this in the trash.
And then let's take the trashout. It's terrible. The stuff that's
going to make you actuallysick from an oyster are not things
you can taste parasites andbacteria, which you cannot screen
for. The rotten oyster isgoing to taste gross. And if you
(24:14):
have a sensitive stomach, youmight puke once. But the stuff that
people are worried aboutgetting, like real food poisoning,
that is not something you can smell.
And that's why they askpregnant women not to eat oysters,
to not take that risk.
Exactly.
Is there a proper way to openan oyster? Is there a trick, anything
you can help us with that?
Yeah, for sure. I always saythere is no wrong way to open an
(24:37):
oyster. As long as theoyster's open, it looks pretty and
you don't hurt yourself.That's the three criteria.
I failed all three.
I think that my few pieces ofadvice. I teach shucking classes.
I've never had anyone hurtthemselves in a shucking class, which
is great. I think it's a loteasier than people realize, especially
(24:59):
with the right tools. And Ithink thinking about that, it's not
about the sharpness, it's notabout getting in there. It's about
using a crowbar essentially toopen the shell. And I think once
people kind of make thatswitch in their mind, it's a less
scary and be a little biteasier to conceptualize.
(25:20):
Yeah. What is the best toppingfor an oyster? I'll tell you what
mine is, but I want to seewhat your opinion is. Your best thing
to put on an.
Oyster in the winter, a reallygood oyster. I'm not topping it with
anything. I'm a purist. Ithink that the best toppings should
all be acid based. Soespecially on the east coast, we
(25:42):
are dealing with a reallybriny thing. And acid is kind of
the combat to brine. I don't.My personal choice is either lemon
or mignonette.
And if you don't know what amignonette is, it's a red wine vinegar
with shallots often. Andsometimes I see cucumbers and other
herbs in it.
So any real vinegar, choppedallium sauce, can be called a mignonette.
(26:06):
It's safe to say that alloysters are farmed this day and age.
People aren't just going outthere and getting wild oysters.
You should not be harvestingwild oysters unless you really know
what you're doing. 98% ofoysters you come into contact with
are going to be farmed.
And do I need to purge oystersas well after I purchase them, like
you do with the mussels?
No, no. You should never besubmerging oysters in water, especially
(26:30):
because oysters, well, a. Theycan drown. It's the same with. If
you see lobster tanks at agrocery store, they've got bubblers
going. There is oxygen movingthrough that water.
Let's talk a little bit aboutmarket price, which is the name of
your mobile oyster bar. Whaton earth is a mobile oyster bar?
Yeah, so we. I worked as achef in New York for a bunch of years,
(26:52):
I kind of decided I didn'twant to be an executive chef at a
restaurant. That wasn't mypassion, my path. And I realized
I really want to be guestfacing, but I still want to do food.
And oysters are kind of thisunique food that you do while you're
talking to people. And so Istarted doing oyster wine tastings
on my apartment roof aboutthree years ago. And since then it's
(27:17):
evolved into mostly privateparties. We still do pop ups and
we do shucking classes.
How fast can you shuck an oyster?
I will always say I'm not aspeed shucker, but what I can do
is hold a conversation while Ishuck, which a lot of speed shuckers
cannot do. I generally budgetmyself about 60 oysters in 20 minutes.
(27:45):
Wow.
Wow.
That's impressive.
If I'm going. If I'm goinggenerally, I would say, yeah, an
oyster every 30 seconds. IfI'm just kind of being leisurely
about it.
I found you on social mediaTell others where you're essentially
educating folks about oysterson social media.
Yeah, you can find me onInstagram and TikTok, Market Price
bk and you can sign up for ouremails on our website marketpricebk.com
(28:11):
to have access to all of ourpop ups and classes and merch.
Fantastic Chef Willow Hubsherfrom the Mobile Oyster Bar. Like
she said, market price. Youcan find out more about market price
at marketpricebk.com thanks somuch for being on Always Hangry.
Thank you so much. This was sofun and thanks to.
All of you for listening. Ifyou enjoyed today's episode, be sure
(28:33):
to follow the Always Hangrypodcast wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also visitalwayshangrypodcast.com for the latest
episodes, updates and muchmore. I'm George Duran. Until next
time, stay hungry.
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