Aw, shucks
November 2, 2015 10:59 AM Subscribe
The New Rules of Oyster Eating, from Rowan Jacobsen of The Oyster Guide and Oysterater, home of the Oyster Map. Pearls of wisdom within.
Can confirm that Island Creek are the best. East coast brininess all the way.
posted by Think_Long at 11:12 AM on November 2, 2015
posted by Think_Long at 11:12 AM on November 2, 2015
Farming them is a big deal around here (in/around Chesapeake bay and tributaries).
Sad to see Rowan falls for the "over-regulation" bogus line one local family was pushing about their farming.
That said, oysters/bivalves are like the liver: main job is as a filter. I'll pass on that.
posted by k5.user at 11:13 AM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sad to see Rowan falls for the "over-regulation" bogus line one local family was pushing about their farming.
That said, oysters/bivalves are like the liver: main job is as a filter. I'll pass on that.
posted by k5.user at 11:13 AM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
A decade ago, I wrote a book called A Geography of Oysters that celebrated the romance of oysters, the primal rush of slurping a raw denizen of the sea, and the mysteries of molluscan terroir. The book struck a chord, and American oyster culture has been in overdrive ever since.
lucille-bluth-eyeroll.gif
posted by Mayor West at 11:27 AM on November 2, 2015 [12 favorites]
lucille-bluth-eyeroll.gif
posted by Mayor West at 11:27 AM on November 2, 2015 [12 favorites]
The first two sentences of this article, as Hizzoner just pointed out, are piercingly annoying, but the rest is good, I promise. Just skip the first two grafs and you'll find the rest of the piece much more interesting.
posted by Aizkolari at 11:30 AM on November 2, 2015
posted by Aizkolari at 11:30 AM on November 2, 2015
In the last year we've switched our grocery shopping almost entirely to delivery via Fresh Direct. We discovered last week that they deliver a good variety of east coast oysters (we're in Philly) at $1/piece. Combined with an inexpensive pair of oyster shucking knives (and youtube videos explaining how to use them properly) I think we have now found a great way to get our fix.
posted by mikewebkist at 11:30 AM on November 2, 2015
posted by mikewebkist at 11:30 AM on November 2, 2015
So, people are gong to start being dicks about oysters now? This guy even manages to slip in his pretension about potato salad ffs. He credits himself with a supposed modern popularity of oysters (that were a staple food source for both primitive man for millions of years and all of Europe for hundreds), but neither mentions pea crabs nor uses the correct pretentious word, "merroir," to describe oysters? Blowhard. He's right about everything of course, just not as right as he thinks he is.
I don't want to drink beer and eat oysters with this man.
posted by cmoj at 11:33 AM on November 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
I don't want to drink beer and eat oysters with this man.
posted by cmoj at 11:33 AM on November 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
*smacks lips* Oh this is a great guide, thanks Miko. I've found that it helps to think of oyster taste by the age of their enveloping seawater. The water in the Pacific ocean is the oldest ocean water on the planet. The water in the North Atlantic is quite younger, more salty, less mixed.
There are oysters that taste of the cold upwelling of old ocean water, sweet with maturity and exotic with the flavor of multiple experiences. Those are the Pacific oysters. Then there are the oysters that are warm, briny, open, wild with the youth of their enveloping seas. That is your Atlantic ocean oyster.
Some days one wants an oyster flavored with aged seawater, other days with younger. And then other days, ah! Other days you just want some oysters that are fresh, cheap, and go great with cocktails and beer while laughing with friends on patios, and the only time that matters then is the present.
posted by barchan at 11:36 AM on November 2, 2015 [10 favorites]
There are oysters that taste of the cold upwelling of old ocean water, sweet with maturity and exotic with the flavor of multiple experiences. Those are the Pacific oysters. Then there are the oysters that are warm, briny, open, wild with the youth of their enveloping seas. That is your Atlantic ocean oyster.
Some days one wants an oyster flavored with aged seawater, other days with younger. And then other days, ah! Other days you just want some oysters that are fresh, cheap, and go great with cocktails and beer while laughing with friends on patios, and the only time that matters then is the present.
posted by barchan at 11:36 AM on November 2, 2015 [10 favorites]
Also, can we please establish once and for all that mignonette is an affront to all that is good and right, and that oysters should be consumed either unadorned, or with cocktail sauce that basically just horseradish with a few dashes of ketchup and worcestershire?
posted by Mayor West at 11:38 AM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Mayor West at 11:38 AM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
My advice to folks is that if you want a good oyster, you want one from a place that's a short-ish drive away (5-6 hours, thereabouts). If there aren't oysters that close then I'd advise going somewhere else to get your oysters. I know this sucks for some people, but personally no oysters are better than bad oysters.
I'm so glad the local pesticide plans got knocked down because that'd've completely knocked the local oysters off the "suitably ethical source of dietary b12" roster for me.
Now to try to put those delicious umami-custard, underwater cupcakes out of my mind for another couple weeks...
posted by Matt Oneiros at 11:41 AM on November 2, 2015
I'm so glad the local pesticide plans got knocked down because that'd've completely knocked the local oysters off the "suitably ethical source of dietary b12" roster for me.
Now to try to put those delicious umami-custard, underwater cupcakes out of my mind for another couple weeks...
posted by Matt Oneiros at 11:41 AM on November 2, 2015
My folks live on the Gulf Coast near some oyster beds, and when we get together we often go to the dock and buy a sack for $80-$100. Bring it home, hose it off, get out some gloves and oyster knives, open some beers, and get to prying. Sometimes things like grills or Fry Daddys are involved, but usually it's just Tabasco and a few Saltines to reset the palette. That sack lasts us about three days.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:43 AM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 11:43 AM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
This writer keeps saying 'slurp' and didn't mention that if you're actually eating a good oyster, you're missing out if you just swallow it without chewing it first. The texture of a good oyster is what makes it worth eating.
posted by Space Coyote at 11:43 AM on November 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Space Coyote at 11:43 AM on November 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
Oysters are a bit of a thing where I live, including an annual oyster festival which comes with a local traditional stout. There are a few different places where they pull them out but on the actual harbour/river I live on there is a big local tradition known as the Falmouth working boats or Truro River oyster dredging boats. These dates back about 200 years and their continued use reflects the ban on bringing up oysters mechanically. They are sail powered only.
When not working (ie mostly the summer but until this week) they race in the harbour (it's quite a big harbour). They are traditionally crafted and during racing are told apart by individualyl patterned topsails. Videos of them sailing here. They do make for an appealing sight from some of the quay side pubs.
posted by biffa at 11:46 AM on November 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
When not working (ie mostly the summer but until this week) they race in the harbour (it's quite a big harbour). They are traditionally crafted and during racing are told apart by individualyl patterned topsails. Videos of them sailing here. They do make for an appealing sight from some of the quay side pubs.
posted by biffa at 11:46 AM on November 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
Which ones should be breaded and deep fried?
Apparently Blue Point oysters, because Rue Dumaine uses them and they're like crack. So delicious: not greasy, just a hint of crispness and warmth, and then that lovely brine. They're not raw, but they're not far from it.
posted by combinatorial explosion at 11:49 AM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Apparently Blue Point oysters, because Rue Dumaine uses them and they're like crack. So delicious: not greasy, just a hint of crispness and warmth, and then that lovely brine. They're not raw, but they're not far from it.
posted by combinatorial explosion at 11:49 AM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've never had oysters from anywhere but North America - what are the oysters like there, biffa?
posted by barchan at 11:49 AM on November 2, 2015
posted by barchan at 11:49 AM on November 2, 2015
Bizarrely, oysters are the one non-vegan food I miss, having grown up with access to fresh Gulf oysters during my childhood.
posted by Kitteh at 11:50 AM on November 2, 2015
posted by Kitteh at 11:50 AM on November 2, 2015
This part stuck out to me:
Shellfish get all their food by filtering algae out of the water. You just put baby oysters in the water and take out market-size oysters two years later, leaving the water cleaner than you found it.
If you're going to eat the oysters, I don't think this is the big win the author thinks it is.
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:53 AM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Shellfish get all their food by filtering algae out of the water. You just put baby oysters in the water and take out market-size oysters two years later, leaving the water cleaner than you found it.
If you're going to eat the oysters, I don't think this is the big win the author thinks it is.
posted by Dr Dracator at 11:53 AM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Dr Dracator I've got bad news for you about where vegetables are grown.
posted by Space Coyote at 11:57 AM on November 2, 2015 [14 favorites]
posted by Space Coyote at 11:57 AM on November 2, 2015 [14 favorites]
The water in the Pacific ocean is the oldest ocean water on the planet. The water in the North Atlantic is quite younger, more salty, less mixed.
I don't understand this. If we're talking about the age of water, aren't we talking about time scales over which water in the Pacific is likely to diffuse into the North Atlantic (and vice versa)? If not, what keeps this from happening?
posted by namespan at 11:57 AM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't understand this. If we're talking about the age of water, aren't we talking about time scales over which water in the Pacific is likely to diffuse into the North Atlantic (and vice versa)? If not, what keeps this from happening?
posted by namespan at 11:57 AM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you're going to eat the oysters, I don't think this is the big win the author thinks it is.
Algae's like a vegetable, but it's not good when overabundant in the water because it proliferates and demands more oxygen, leaving less for the other creatures and turning environments anoxic, decaying and smelly. IT can shade out organisms lower in the water column. It's not that it's bad for you, it's bad for the ocean environment.
posted by Miko at 12:06 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Algae's like a vegetable, but it's not good when overabundant in the water because it proliferates and demands more oxygen, leaving less for the other creatures and turning environments anoxic, decaying and smelly. IT can shade out organisms lower in the water column. It's not that it's bad for you, it's bad for the ocean environment.
posted by Miko at 12:06 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'd love to read the version of this article written in the style of barchan's comment above, with its infectious joy, but as it stands I want to eat all the mangled, shriveled, amateur-shucked oysters I can get my hands on just to spite the smug fuckery linked above.
posted by invitapriore at 12:09 PM on November 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by invitapriore at 12:09 PM on November 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
In simple terms, thermohaline circulation and the hydro cycle, namespan. The age of seawater refers to how long since a water mass has been exposed to the atmosphere; a water mass in circulation will eventually be exposed again. Colder, saltier seawater sinks due to density differences, circulates, and then upwells (like you get on the Pacific coast). You can read about it here, here, and thermohaline circulation itself in simple terms here. It helps to picture that ocean circulation involves significant mixing of waters like you're thinking, including via the wind, as well as very distinct water masses with specific boundary layers.
posted by barchan at 12:12 PM on November 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by barchan at 12:12 PM on November 2, 2015 [4 favorites]
This writer keeps saying 'slurp' and didn't mention that if you're actually eating a good oyster, you're missing out if you just swallow it without chewing it first. The texture of a good oyster is what makes it worth eating.
There are people who eatoysters anything without chewing it first? The 'slurp' is how you get the oyster from the shell while simultaneously getting the liquor (the brine it lives in). A lot of people don't slurp because they don't like the brine, or don't know that's good to eat? Slurp is about brine.
Everyone should chew their food. What's the point of just swallowing stuff without tasting it?
posted by danny the boy at 12:12 PM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
There are people who eat
Everyone should chew their food. What's the point of just swallowing stuff without tasting it?
posted by danny the boy at 12:12 PM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
what are the oysters like there, biffa?
They're OK, not really great but it likely doesn't help that I only have them a few times a year, sometimes they're good but a little small, I'm far from being an oyster expert though. A festival can actually be a bad place to get quality since volume is needed and most people aren't willing to pay very much. IIRC they had to buy in this year anyway as it was a wet summer, which means too much run off from the hills. Beer was very good though, as always.
If your are ever in Falmouth and want to watch the oyster boats race I recommend the seaview pub, which lives up to it's name.
posted by biffa at 12:17 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
They're OK, not really great but it likely doesn't help that I only have them a few times a year, sometimes they're good but a little small, I'm far from being an oyster expert though. A festival can actually be a bad place to get quality since volume is needed and most people aren't willing to pay very much. IIRC they had to buy in this year anyway as it was a wet summer, which means too much run off from the hills. Beer was very good though, as always.
If your are ever in Falmouth and want to watch the oyster boats race I recommend the seaview pub, which lives up to it's name.
posted by biffa at 12:17 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'd love to read the version of this article written in the style of barchan's comment above, with its infectious joy, but as it stands I want to eat all the mangled, shriveled, amateur-shucked oysters I can get my hands on just to spite the smug fuckery linked above.
Agree wholeheartedly, but this always comes up whenever an article gets posted about 'rules' for eating. People seem to have a strong reaction to being told what to do, but... in the same way that you can only be looked down on by people you look up to, you don't actually have to follow anyone's "rules" when it comes to eating. If you find someone's guidelines useful it can only make your own experience better. If not, swallow away.
posted by danny the boy at 12:19 PM on November 2, 2015
Agree wholeheartedly, but this always comes up whenever an article gets posted about 'rules' for eating. People seem to have a strong reaction to being told what to do, but... in the same way that you can only be looked down on by people you look up to, you don't actually have to follow anyone's "rules" when it comes to eating. If you find someone's guidelines useful it can only make your own experience better. If not, swallow away.
posted by danny the boy at 12:19 PM on November 2, 2015
Ooooh that sounds lovely, biffa. Thanks for the answer. That pub looks like what I dream of when I dream about going back to the English coast.
posted by barchan at 12:22 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by barchan at 12:22 PM on November 2, 2015
I have to admit I've never gotten into raw oysters. (And I love pretty much all sushi, including uni.)
But give me something like sizzling oysters from a Chinese BBQ place and I'm in heaven.
posted by kmz at 12:24 PM on November 2, 2015
But give me something like sizzling oysters from a Chinese BBQ place and I'm in heaven.
posted by kmz at 12:24 PM on November 2, 2015
Well...sorry if the tone rankles, but there's a lot of good information in this piece that I didn't know, and I was glad to have it.
posted by Miko at 12:24 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Miko at 12:24 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Agreed there was good info here. As usual with internet articles about "things" (oysters, vacuum cleaners, shaving...) it gets into the weeds of annoyance.
Personally, I do like oysters just plain, or with MAYBE a little drop or two of lemon juice. Ordering fresh oysters means you are paying for the experience of eating fresh oysters, not cocktail sauce and vinegar. But whatever, do what you want. I appreciate the occasional taste of salt water and raw shellfish as a midwesterner.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 12:32 PM on November 2, 2015
Personally, I do like oysters just plain, or with MAYBE a little drop or two of lemon juice. Ordering fresh oysters means you are paying for the experience of eating fresh oysters, not cocktail sauce and vinegar. But whatever, do what you want. I appreciate the occasional taste of salt water and raw shellfish as a midwesterner.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 12:32 PM on November 2, 2015
Bizarrely, oysters are the one non-vegan food I miss, having grown up with access to fresh Gulf oysters during my childhood.
Good news! Oysters are about as sentient as a cabbage.
posted by cmoj at 12:46 PM on November 2, 2015 [6 favorites]
Good news! Oysters are about as sentient as a cabbage.
posted by cmoj at 12:46 PM on November 2, 2015 [6 favorites]
Algae's like a vegetable, but it's not good when overabundant in the water because it proliferates and demands more oxygen, leaving less for the other creatures and turning environments anoxic, decaying and smelly. IT can shade out organisms lower in the water column. It's not that it's bad for you, it's bad for the ocean environment.
It's not the algae I'm (to a mostly academic degree) concerned about, it's everything else floating in the huge volume of water filtered by an oyster over the course of its lifetime - they should be good bioaccumulators for all sorts of interesting things.
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:50 PM on November 2, 2015
It's not the algae I'm (to a mostly academic degree) concerned about, it's everything else floating in the huge volume of water filtered by an oyster over the course of its lifetime - they should be good bioaccumulators for all sorts of interesting things.
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:50 PM on November 2, 2015
The word slurp is the panties of food consumption words. I am having a hard time reading any of this without gagging just a little. But I do like oysters.
IIRC oysters and lobster were considered poor people food for a good part of American history. It's interesting how peasant become fetishized and expensive, like charcuterie trend.
posted by Belle O'Cosity at 12:55 PM on November 2, 2015
IIRC oysters and lobster were considered poor people food for a good part of American history. It's interesting how peasant become fetishized and expensive, like charcuterie trend.
posted by Belle O'Cosity at 12:55 PM on November 2, 2015
I've never eaten oysters, I don't think. (I might have tried them as a kid, but if so, I don't really remember it.) I've been curious lately, though.
I love raw fish (e.g., sashimi and ceviche), and I don't mind cooked seafood as long as it doesn't have a remotely fishy smell or flavor (even salmon is too much for me). I despise crab, and anything tough and rubbery (e.g., squid—although it can be lovely if sliced very thinly).
So, are oysters for me? I mean, I don't even know how they're eaten. I know that they're sometimes eaten raw, but is this the default? What's the gentlest introduction to oyster-eatin' for a neophyte? (I live within an hour's drive of the mid-Atlantic coast, so presumably I can find good, fresh oysters somewhere.)
posted by escape from the potato planet at 1:04 PM on November 2, 2015
I love raw fish (e.g., sashimi and ceviche), and I don't mind cooked seafood as long as it doesn't have a remotely fishy smell or flavor (even salmon is too much for me). I despise crab, and anything tough and rubbery (e.g., squid—although it can be lovely if sliced very thinly).
So, are oysters for me? I mean, I don't even know how they're eaten. I know that they're sometimes eaten raw, but is this the default? What's the gentlest introduction to oyster-eatin' for a neophyte? (I live within an hour's drive of the mid-Atlantic coast, so presumably I can find good, fresh oysters somewhere.)
posted by escape from the potato planet at 1:04 PM on November 2, 2015
- they should be good bioaccumulators for all sorts of interesting things.
Seems reasonable but in fact their tissues discriminate amongst different kinds of potential toxins/metals, and unlike fatty fish, they don't seem to retain that much of that sort of pollutant, at least as far as I've been recently aware. There are times and places I recall seeing "don't eat the shellfish" signs, sure, but unlike, say bluefish which are sort of always a bit of a bad idea, oysters don't seem to be a constant risk.
Seems reasonable but in fact their tissues discriminate amongst different kinds of potential toxins/metals, and unlike fatty fish, they don't seem to retain that much of that sort of pollutant, at least as far as I've been recently aware. There are times and places I recall seeing "don't eat the shellfish" signs, sure, but unlike, say bluefish which are sort of always a bit of a bad idea, oysters don't seem to be a constant risk.
"There is a real chance for people to misunderstand what we are talking about with shellfish cleaning up the environment. People think, ‘Oh, the oysters are cleaning up pollution, I don’t want to eat them.’ No, nitrogen is a nutrient, it’s a problem when we get too much in the system," but it’s not a poison like mercury, said Bill Walton, a marine biologist with Auburn University who was one of the study’s co-authors.posted by Miko at 1:13 PM on November 2, 2015 [6 favorites]
I know that they're sometimes eaten raw, but is this the default?
Not necessarily -- properly (lightly, in cornmeal) fried oysters are very tasty. You can also steam them, broil them, and grill them, or put them in stuffing or gumbo. Work your way up to raw from there, if you like.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 1:24 PM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
Not necessarily -- properly (lightly, in cornmeal) fried oysters are very tasty. You can also steam them, broil them, and grill them, or put them in stuffing or gumbo. Work your way up to raw from there, if you like.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 1:24 PM on November 2, 2015 [2 favorites]
So sad to have read this. It's the first time in weeks I've felt a craving of any kind, instead of pure hatred at the thought of food. *pregnant and in the middle of the morning-sickness-all-day-long phase*
What I'd give right now for a cold plate of a dozen oysters and a beer right now.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 1:26 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
What I'd give right now for a cold plate of a dozen oysters and a beer right now.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 1:26 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, flash frozen oysters are fairly common. They're shucked in the factory, so the restaurant just thaws and serves.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 1:36 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 1:36 PM on November 2, 2015
Also, flash frozen oysters are fairly common. They're shucked in the factory, so the restaurant just thaws and serves.
posted by RobotVoodooPower
IQF oysters on the shell? THat's the oddest thing I've heard since seeing that cat in a scanner. Where would an oyster like this be served? On a tray at a banquet buffet maybe? So weird.
posted by Keith Talent at 1:54 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by RobotVoodooPower
IQF oysters on the shell? THat's the oddest thing I've heard since seeing that cat in a scanner. Where would an oyster like this be served? On a tray at a banquet buffet maybe? So weird.
posted by Keith Talent at 1:54 PM on November 2, 2015
So, are oysters for me?
Well, I think a lot of people's aversion to seafood is that they've had not very good examples. Like most fish shouldn't taste "fishy", raw or cooked--that's a sign that it's not fresh. The exception is stuff you've fermented/preserved, like anchovies or fish sauce, but even then it's not really so much 'fishy' as it is pungent or strong. Like smoked salmon doesn't taste fishy, it tastes smoked. Lox tastes of brine. Etc. I think people identify "fishy" when they're really detecting something else, and mapping it mentally to "fishy". Fish sauce though, really does taste essentially of rotting fish. But in a good way!
Squid/octopus should have resistance and chew, but if it's rubbery, it's been overcooked or otherwise badly prepared.
I wouldn't actually recommend you starting with cooked oysters. I love oyster po boys, baked/bbq'd oysters, fry's, etc. but the taste there is actually stronger than with raw. Often because the oysters you cook are the ones that aren't good enough to serve raw, either because of freshness or taste issues. Find a raw bar and talk with the shucker. Different species taste dramatically different, and there are "crowd pleasers". Feel free to use apply lemon/mignonette liberally if you have trouble eating it bare but raw oysters, like raw fish, have delicate and subtle flavors you'll want to taste.
posted by danny the boy at 2:03 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Well, I think a lot of people's aversion to seafood is that they've had not very good examples. Like most fish shouldn't taste "fishy", raw or cooked--that's a sign that it's not fresh. The exception is stuff you've fermented/preserved, like anchovies or fish sauce, but even then it's not really so much 'fishy' as it is pungent or strong. Like smoked salmon doesn't taste fishy, it tastes smoked. Lox tastes of brine. Etc. I think people identify "fishy" when they're really detecting something else, and mapping it mentally to "fishy". Fish sauce though, really does taste essentially of rotting fish. But in a good way!
Squid/octopus should have resistance and chew, but if it's rubbery, it's been overcooked or otherwise badly prepared.
I wouldn't actually recommend you starting with cooked oysters. I love oyster po boys, baked/bbq'd oysters, fry's, etc. but the taste there is actually stronger than with raw. Often because the oysters you cook are the ones that aren't good enough to serve raw, either because of freshness or taste issues. Find a raw bar and talk with the shucker. Different species taste dramatically different, and there are "crowd pleasers". Feel free to use apply lemon/mignonette liberally if you have trouble eating it bare but raw oysters, like raw fish, have delicate and subtle flavors you'll want to taste.
posted by danny the boy at 2:03 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I very much want to make this thanksgiving oyster tradition A Thing.
posted by craven_morhead at 2:15 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by craven_morhead at 2:15 PM on November 2, 2015
Oh well barchan since it's you I'll read your oyster paean and like it
*sour face*
posted by glasseyes at 3:10 PM on November 2, 2015
*sour face*
posted by glasseyes at 3:10 PM on November 2, 2015
I haven't eaten oysters since the gulf coast was turned into an oil slick. But man, I remember as a kid in nawlins just eating them from the bucket fresh from the water. Yum.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 5:32 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 5:32 PM on November 2, 2015
I don't think I'd eat them in the Gulf for quite some time.
Oysters don't seem to me like "starter" seafood - I think of them as "advanced" seafood. However, my siblings are almost complete vegetarians and they eat (and love) them, so. You just can't know until you try. For some people it's an immediate affinity.
posted by Miko at 5:35 PM on November 2, 2015
Oysters don't seem to me like "starter" seafood - I think of them as "advanced" seafood. However, my siblings are almost complete vegetarians and they eat (and love) them, so. You just can't know until you try. For some people it's an immediate affinity.
posted by Miko at 5:35 PM on November 2, 2015
Had some great French and Basque oysters in Bilbao a couple weeks ago, but before that, the last time I had awesome ones was at Taylor's in Cap Hill Seattle (which were far brtter shucked).
posted by Joseph Gurl at 5:57 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by Joseph Gurl at 5:57 PM on November 2, 2015
Mussels used to check water quality:
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article39553173.html
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article39553173.html
“They’re like active water samplers and they don’t metabolize those contaminants,” Lanksbury said, adding that they reflect the contaminants that are in an area for two to four months.
“Being a shellfish farmer, we can’t farm shellfish in dirty water,” said Ian Jefferds, co-owner and general manager of Penn Cove Shellfish.posted by clew at 6:06 PM on November 2, 2015
Miko: Seems reasonable but in fact their tissues discriminate amongst different kinds of potential toxins/metals
The article you quote is talking about oysters' ability to filter/clean organic pollution (specifically nitrogen-containing compounds), which are more or less de-toxified by the animals, and doesn't mention metals.
"Marine bivalves are filter feeders that take up and accumulate metals and other pollutants from the water column or via ingestion of contaminants adsorbed to phytoplankton, detritus and sediment particles."
posted by sneebler at 6:09 PM on November 2, 2015
The article you quote is talking about oysters' ability to filter/clean organic pollution (specifically nitrogen-containing compounds), which are more or less de-toxified by the animals, and doesn't mention metals.
"Marine bivalves are filter feeders that take up and accumulate metals and other pollutants from the water column or via ingestion of contaminants adsorbed to phytoplankton, detritus and sediment particles."
posted by sneebler at 6:09 PM on November 2, 2015
Yeah, I understand the difference, but we were talking about algae at first, and I did mention metals in a separate clause, and anyhow, you can find other things that say they retain some metals at higher rates and not others (like zinc and cadmium, higher, lead and chromium, lower) and those they do retain in relatively low concentrations, and how concentrations vary seasonally, and how they also vary with localized impacts (like an oil spill) which do clear over time, and a bunch of other stuff which I did look at, but didn't link to because I didn't feel like getting into one of those "let's trade studies" things. I mean, there are a bunch of rather dull-reading studies about oysters and heavy meatals, so for those who enjoy witness the fight between the Mother Jones guy and the graduate students and so on, have at it.
posted by Miko at 6:22 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Miko at 6:22 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm trying to point out that eating oysters carries some risk proportional to the type and concentration of pollutants in their environment. It's not so much whether "their tissues discriminate amongst different kinds of potential toxins/metals" but exactly what those toxins are, and how much is present in what we're eating. I'm also not trying to impose any dull reading on you, but given the various controversies around the toxicity of contaminants in food, we should try to avoid speculation and stick to the facts, however dull. An estuary, the animals that live there, the food we harvest, and the humans who eat it all share the same pollutants, for better or worse. Trying to understand that story is worthwhile, yes?
posted by sneebler at 7:14 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by sneebler at 7:14 PM on November 2, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sure, feel free to gather and share more information if it is important to you. I started to and found myself immediately bored by the whole endeavor and, knowing fisheries, aware that it was about to get into a complicated morass of conflicting generalizations and locally specific information and atomized studies yielding nothing like the sure generalities we can make about fatty fish, since oysters simply can't store heavy metals over a lifetime. But if you'd like to present information you have researched and analyzed to be sure we're attending to the risks of oyster eating in as detailed a way as possible, of course you can go down that road. I just chose not to at this time.
posted by Miko at 7:17 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by Miko at 7:17 PM on November 2, 2015
So, are oysters for me? I mean, I don't even know how they're eaten. I know that they're sometimes eaten raw, but is this the default? What's the gentlest introduction to oyster-eatin' for a neophyte?
I have been fed some apparently very nice cooked/fried oysters on multiple occasions and never really enjoyed them. The one time I had raw oysters however they were quite good. So I would second that eating them raw may be a gentler introduction than cooked.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 8:38 PM on November 2, 2015
I have been fed some apparently very nice cooked/fried oysters on multiple occasions and never really enjoyed them. The one time I had raw oysters however they were quite good. So I would second that eating them raw may be a gentler introduction than cooked.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 8:38 PM on November 2, 2015
Thanks for these links! I spent last summer in Normandy and then Prince Edward Island, so I learned how to shuck oysters and then spent a lot of time improving my shuckcraft. It was a lot of fun, and it was interesting to compare the oyster types on different sides of the Atlantic. I can imagine becoming an oyster obsessive; these links help.
posted by painquale at 9:47 PM on November 2, 2015
posted by painquale at 9:47 PM on November 2, 2015
Mussels used to check water quality:
Mussels are not the same as oysters, but that's where I came across the issue. For example, here is IAEA CRM 437, mussels from the Meditteranean, containing detectable traces of Plutonium, Cs-137 and Am-241 - probably fallout from atmospheric weapons testing. It probably needs to be pointed out that this is detectable because modern radiometric methods for artificial radionuclides have ridiculously low detection limits, not because this is a huge amount.
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:18 AM on November 3, 2015
Mussels are not the same as oysters, but that's where I came across the issue. For example, here is IAEA CRM 437, mussels from the Meditteranean, containing detectable traces of Plutonium, Cs-137 and Am-241 - probably fallout from atmospheric weapons testing. It probably needs to be pointed out that this is detectable because modern radiometric methods for artificial radionuclides have ridiculously low detection limits, not because this is a huge amount.
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:18 AM on November 3, 2015
We discovered last week that they deliver a good variety of east coast oysters (we're in Philly) at $1/piece
Oh man, going out for oysters is sort of a hassle lately, and the nearest decent seafood market is a little bit out of the way ... if I could get a dozen good-quality Bluepoints delivered for under $20? I might have to be on top of that.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:38 AM on November 3, 2015
Oh man, going out for oysters is sort of a hassle lately, and the nearest decent seafood market is a little bit out of the way ... if I could get a dozen good-quality Bluepoints delivered for under $20? I might have to be on top of that.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:38 AM on November 3, 2015
Eftpp, whatever you do, don't start out on oysters that you get in an all-you-can-eat buffet in Holiday, Florida because your grandpa put a raw one on your plate and dared you to try it. I love that magnificent bastard with all my heart but I tried an oyster once since then, 20 some odd years later, steamed, and while I held it down, it remains something that I'll happily leave to the rest of ya.
posted by mcrandello at 10:11 AM on November 4, 2015
posted by mcrandello at 10:11 AM on November 4, 2015
« Older And the boys with motorcycles want cars | they burn witches here Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by tummy_rub at 11:10 AM on November 2, 2015 [4 favorites]