Q&A for How to Eat Oysters

Usually. You want to release the flavor and taste it. Swallowing it whole is, like a pill, tasteless.

Yes and no. If you're going to eat oysters raw, they need to be alive at the time you open the shell. Once the shell is opened, though, the oyster is no longer alive. You've effectively killed it. As with many crustaceans and shellfish, oysters will start to decompose very, very rapidly and become inedible within a matter of hours.

Uncooked seafood, as in raw oysters, always has a slight risk of some kind of contamination. A fried oyster is much safer. Eat your fill.

I think most people refer to the edible portion of the oyster as the "flesh."