Do you read SpinachTiger? If not you should. Her blog is sophisticated, witty and honest.

These are great reasons to read her blog 364 days a year. But there is a 365^th day and on that day there is an even more compelling reason to make the time to go there.

Tuesday December 1 is World AIDS Day. Angela at SpinachTiger is asking us to Cook Red To Remember.

Now, I am going to say something that may seem controversial. I am a gay man, old enough to remember the shell-shocked days of the early epidemic. I don’t need a special day to remember the death, the sadness or the fear.

So when I hear about these special days set aside for remembrance there is a part of me that bristles up and thinks, “what about every other day in the year?” It sometimes almost offends me that one day a year needs to be set aside so we can “remember” that 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS and there is still no cure.

I was wondering around the Hollywood Farmers Market just marveling at the amazing array of fresh vegetables. I mean here it is the very middle of February and every farmers stand is bursting with winter crops of all descriptions. Which makes choosing a vegetable very, very difficult.

That’s when it occurred to me. I do not have to choose a vegetable for this weeks Market Matters at all!

Now, I have talked about aquafarming before. So you may realize it is considered a very safe and sustainable method to provide some types of seafood to our tables. Aquafarms are an especially great source for bi-valves.

So I am choosing the most celebrated of all the bi-valves. The oyster.

I got myself over to the Carlsbad Aquafarm stand. Rob runs the stand in Hollywood and seems to be a man with a mission. He is easy to talk to and ready to share information, recipes, even a little gossip as long as the subject is bi-valves. He has a great selection of super fresh oysters, mussels and clams. There are always several varieties of each. He was featuring 4 types of oysters when I was there: Carlsbad Blondes, Catalinas, Lunas, and Endless Summers.

Rob will expertly shuck them for you right on the spot. So it’s easy to taste them all.

Many a certifiable foodie will tell you that the only way to eat an oyster is raw. Though it is a great way to eat oysters, it is an inaccurate statement! And if you do not believe me I offer you this quote from James Beard: "Many so-called gourmets, tell you that to eat an oyster in any fashion except directly from the shell is to show ignorance of gastronomic tradition and the rules of good taste. This is nonsense." So said James, so say I...