Salty, complex, ALIVE! Oysters are one of those things that people either infatuate about or are so revolted by, they gag and run. I am one of the former. There is something about the simplicity of a raw oyster. Its the taste of the sea… yes we have all heard that one, or the way they feel in your mouth, before you bid them ado and send them on their way down. Oysters are like the wine of the sea. There may be a single species, as is the case of the east coast oyster, Crassostrea virginica, but there are countless varieties each absorbing the subtle flavors of the minerals flowing from the river they are situated by, or the saltiness of the water around them. Malpeque, Wellfleet, Umami, Olde Salt and Stingray are all the same animal, yet all are so different. It may bring us to raise the question of nature or nurture, but put that aside and for a moment and enjoy them for all of their local beauty. Growing up on the East coast, I was always protective of the East side selection. I liked the taste of the Atlantic that would fill my mouth with each split shell. I suppose it was something I acquired from years of sailing, where the taste was something I encountered throughout my childhood in long island sound. But as I got older and more interested in the differences, my nose in the air for East coast oysters, slowly lowered and welcomed in the earthy flavors that could be found from the West coast. Living here in Los Angeles, the West coast selection is something I have tried to embrace as I now see this coast as my home. So now it is Oystrville Select, Yaquina Bay, Hama Hama, Little Skookum, and Quilcene.
I recently picked up Mark Kurlansky’s book, The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell, and was swept up in the role that oysters played in the founding of America. It’s sad to think that New York was once the global hotspot for oysters. Now, most right minded people would not dip a toe in those waters let alone slurp down a filter feeding bivalve, yet they were the cornerstone to the city in its heyday. The book is a fantastic read if you like to learn about how the history of food shaped the people and the places you visit on a layover to Europe or catching a broadway show. But this book made me realize that I wanted to know more. Not about the history, but about the present offerings of one of my favorite things. So I found a true gem that has made my mouth water again… and again.
A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur’s Guide To Oyster Eating In America, by Rowan Jacobsen. Like a guide to the bays and inlets that ring our fine land, he dissects the minerals and care each oyster is given from spat to slurp. By the time I was done I had compiled a list of oysters I had to track down and taste. The way I see it, it is a mini vacation to a place without having to necessarily go there. Pick this book up and give it a read. It will help guide you through the many subtle and dramatic differences of the oysters from our waters.
So while I am on the $5 a day challenge, I will have to give in and splurge on a few new flavors that I have tasted from the pages but not yet on my tongue. So that is why I maybe cranked out another Veggi curry. It was great last time and provided many many meals, at next to no dent in the wallet, and proved to be just as good this time around. But even though there is curry in the fridge, there are oysters on my mind.
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