"He was a bold man that first ate an oyster..."
In last week's Good Food, Christophe Happillon referenced the above quote. It turns out that it's from Jonathan Swift who was quite fond of the oyster. He wrote this poem called "Oysters":
Charming oysters I cry:
My masters, come buy,
So plump and so fresh,
So sweet is their flesh,
No Colchester oyster
Is sweeter and moister:
Your stomach they settle,
And rouse up your mettle:
They'll make you a dad
Of a lass or a lad;
And madam your wife
They'll please to the life;
Be she barren, be she old,
Be she slut, or be she scold,
Eat my oysters, and lie near her,
She'll be fruitful, never fear her.