O Oysters, come and walk with us!’
The Walrus did beseech.
A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each.’
This stanza is found in one of my favorite poems, “The Walrus and The Carpenter” by Lewis Carroll. The poem’s major theme is a cautionary tale urging us not to blindly follow leaders, as exemplified by the cunning betrayal of the oysters by the walrus and the carpenter, who trick the younger oysters to follow them down the beach until the oysters become tired and can be easily eaten. However, to my chef’s mind, it’s also a cautionary tale of spreading the butter too thickly on bread while enjoying my favorite bivalve mollusks.
It seems a shame,’ the Walrus said,
To play them such a trick,
After we’ve brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!’
The Carpenter said nothing but
The butter’s spread too thick!’
I recently enjoyed a beautiful fall day at Home Range Winery in Canaan, New York, where Peter Bartlett and Susan Powell have, in a relatively short amount of time, begun making some very enjoyable, food-friendly wines using grapes grown on their property. I’ve had many “meh!” moments and a few outright “ugh!” moments with wines made from local grapes in the Northeast, excepting some of the excellent wines from the Finger Lakes region of New York. So many of them are too sweet or lesser-to-poor representations of European wines. I tasted all of Home Range’s wines and there wasn’t an “ugh!” among them. Peter has successfully begun making honest dry wines that cleanly allow the grapes to shine and dare I say to the wine snobs reading this article, reflects their terroir. Simply put, these are pleasant examples of simple rustic wines meant for a picnic or a casual glass or two at home, with the advantage of being locally sourced and produced. Well done, Peter and Susan!
The couple have been hosting events on their idyllic farm and winery on the weekends — featuring local musicians and food vendors — and that will continue right through the fall. On the weekend Lois and I visited, Susan messaged me that oysters on the half shell were on the menu, which was the deciding factor to finally make a visit. The Amy Ryan Band rocked, helping create a party vibe while we enjoyed a glass of wine with a dozen oysters, expertly shucked by Scott Soares of his eponymously named company, Scott Shucks out of East Longmeadow. You may ask what East Longmeadow has to do with oysters and the answer is Scott Soares.
Not only did I thoroughly enjoy Scott’s oysters from the waters of Nantucket Sound off Barnstable on Cape Cod, but I found he possesses a wealth of knowledge regarding their aquaculture. His interest in shellfish began while growing up in Dartmouth on the South Shore of Massachusetts, where he spent a great deal of time out on the flats at low tide collecting various shellfish with his family. After graduating cum laude from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth with a double major in biology and marine biology, followed by a stint in the Army, Scott served as Aquaculture Coordinator in the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources before eventually being appointed Massachusetts Agriculture Commissioner by Berkshire County’s own former Governor Deval Patrick. Scott is an oyster nerd by any standard.
One of the interesting aspects of oyster aquaculture we discussed was oyster reef restoration. There’s a fascinating project taking place in New York Harbor and the surrounding area called the Billion Oyster Project. This project is restoring the oyster reefs in the harbor after they’ve been all but wiped out in less than 100 years. Its primary raison d’être is protecting New York City from storm damage by softening the blow of large waves, thereby reducing flooding and preventing shoreline erosion. Since 2014, the project has restored an incredible 47 million live oysters to create these reefs. It doesn’t take long to realize how the scientific research from this project is already having global implications in our fight against the effects of global warming. As the Earth’s ice sheets melt, they raise the level of our oceans and coastal storms continue to intensify.
An additional benefit of the Billion Oyster Project is that it helps clean the waters of the harbor. Oysters are filter feeders, extracting organic matter through their gills from the waters around them. One of the most important environmental benefits of oysters’ filter feeding is removing excess algae from the water column, which, left unchecked, can create algal blooms (red tide) responsible for introducing toxins to the waters and killing marine life. Considering a single adult oyster can filter as much as 50 gallons of water per day, I don’t think anyone needs to do the math to imagine the effect 47 million oysters have on the harbor.
Let’s talk about oysters as my favorite subject: food.
An interesting fact I found while researching is that, since the oyster’s anatomy has no central nervous system, they feel no pain. For that reason, some vegans will eat them. This is not an argument to convince vegans or vegetarians that they have no philosophical standing when it comes to excluding oysters from their diet; to each their own as far as I’m concerned. I just find it interesting, and it may allay the fears of those who feel eating a live mollusk is cruel and are squeamish about it for that reason.
I’d like to share some highlights of my conversation and interview with Scott Soares regarding oysters and oyster farming.
As far as the safety of consuming raw oysters is concerned, oyster and shellfish cultivation is a highly regulated industry at the local, state, and federal levels. The National Sanitary Shellfish Program is a cooperative agreement between state and federal regulatory authorities, setting standards which are enforced by those regulators. These standards include regular monitoring of the water quality where oysters are grown and tagging bags of oysters with information of when and where they were gathered, enabling traceback if problems arise. Restaurant operators and seafood retailers are required to save those tags for a minimum of 90 days.
When purchasing oysters, buy them from a reputable fishmonger, make sure they smell as sweet as an ocean breeze, and that the shells are fully closed. From there, the most important thing is to store them in the refrigerator on ice. They keep best at 35-40 F. Don’t deprive any shellfish of air, as they will suffocate. Oysters are best enjoyed ice cold, so it’s best to keep shucked oysters on ice as long as possible.
The old guidance to only eat oysters in months ending in the letter R made it appear there was something dangerous about eating them in the warmer months. Before the mid 20th century, when extensive refrigeration was unavailable and safe distribution was an issue, this may have been true. The warmer months are, also, when algal blooms occur, potentially contaminating shellfish populations. However, extensive refrigeration and swift, safe distribution are now the norm. Additionally, as noted above, regular water testing where oyster farming occurs virtually eliminates any waterborne oyster contamination.
Another issue is oysters usually spawn in the warmer months of May through August, which can affect their flavor and texture. The difference, though, is slight and would only be noticed by a true aficionado. That being said, oysters are at their peak of flavor and texture as they prepare for winter months. Scott said to think of it like bears gorging as they prepare for hibernation.
As far as condiments are concerned, the most I ever add to an oyster is a drop of lemon, but Scott made a good case for enjoying them without any condiments at all. His point was that, to fully appreciate an oyster, it’s best to be able to fully taste where it is from and all the conditions that contribute to its taste and texture. In wine, terroir, or such things as soil conditions, temperature variances, and amount of sun, is vitally important to the grapes. A skilled winemaker will enhance these qualities. In French, mer means sea, so for oyster aficionados the term merroir is used to describe how an oyster is affected by where it is raised. The difference between terroir and merroir is the merroir of the oyster is even more important to its smell, taste, and mouth feel since the oyster is not processed at all, and is eaten directly from the ocean.
I learned oyster farms are providing increasing economic and employment opportunities for coastal communities impacted by shifts in commercial fishing. I know from my time as a chef on Cape Cod the once thriving commercial fleets which used to fish out of Provincetown and Chatham are virtually nonexistent now. Meanwhile, farmed oysters, which used to be a minor player in the seafood industry, are now third in importance behind lobsters and sea scallops, with an estimated $60 million economic impact in Massachusetts.
Do you find shucking oysters intimidating? You only need two pieces of equipment: a good oyster knife and a kitchen towel. Here’s a short video from the good folks at America’s Test Kitchen that will teach you all you need to know.
Finally, I leave you with a quote, and the final stanza from “The Walrus and The Carpenter.”
“Before I was born my mother was in great agony of spirit and in a tragic situation. She could take no food except iced oysters and Champagne. If people ask me when I began to dance, I reply ‘In my mother’s womb, probably as a result of the oysters and Champagne.'” —Isadora Duncan
O Oysters,’ said the Carpenter,
You’ve had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?’
But answer came there none —
And this was scarcely odd, because
They’d eaten every one.
