The Great Oyster Debate: Raw or Cooked?

UPDATE: The votes are in on the poll and people prefer their oysters in the raw. Thanks for your feedback!!

Took a trip to beautiful Samish Bay Saturday, the spring sunshine working like a tonic to purge the toxic developments of this past week. 

My better half and I split a couple dozen oysters and had a picnic right there on the water's edge at Taylor Shellfish. I had written a story about this kind of field trip last fall, but the weather was much better this time around.

While trying to get our damp lump charcoal going, we pryed open the Virginicas and slurped them down. A young woman from Maine asked us to show her the inside of one of our bivavles. Said she wasn't big on seafood. I said oysters are like the graduate degree of seafood eating. Where should I begin? she wondered. Something mild like sole or halibut. Her boyfriend suggested clams. 

We cooked the second dozen on the coals until the shells popped. I brought a mix of butter, garlic, Worchestshire and Frank's hot sauce to drizzle on top. Oh. So, so good. The lightly poached shellfish had that extra bit of texture, that slight pop when it hits your teeth. It was a very close call, but on that afternoon, the cooked came out ahead.

What's your favorite way to eat an oyster? Please take the poll and I'll fish out the results soon.