Oysters 101
Like wine, oysters owe much of their flavor to terroir, the specific environment in which they grow. Just as the geography, soil and climate of a vineyard gives a distinct flavour to the resulting wine, oysters are influenced by their surroundings and develop to be salty or sweet, with notes of cucumber, melon, herbs, flint or copper. Indeed oysters taste most like the sea.
“If you don't love life you can't enjoy an oyster; there is a shock of freshness to it, some piercing intuition of the sea and all its weeds and breezes.” ~ Eleanor Clark
Eating Oysters Raw
Eating raw oysters is a uniquely invigorating experience. No other food conjures up a physical feature of the Earth as strongly as a bracing, salty, tangy oyster: the essence of the sea in edible form.
What kind of an oyster eater are you?
The Shy One
You're not sure about his whole oyster thing, and need some convincing,
preferably with the lightest flavoured, smallest, least intimidating
oysters possible.
Try: Kumamotos and Kusshis. Reliably small, pretty, creamy and mild.
The Salt Fiend
Bring on the salt! Chips, pickles, olives - you love 'em all.
If you could drink seawater, you would.
Try: Ask your server for oysters grown in or near the open ocean.
The Sweet Tooth
Salt? Yuck! But there is nothing quite so divine as the creamy
sweetness of super plump oyster.
Try: Stick with the Pacifics. Kumamoto is the sweetest of the sweet.
The Wild Child
Forget those hatchery-raised wimps, you want a natural-seet oyster
that survived the one-in-a-million journey from egg to adult.
Try: Hama Hamas, Malpeques and Chesapeakes.
Oyster FAQ
Should I swallow or chew an oyster? Chew it! How else will you know what it tastes like?
