PrintOysters in May - A OK?
Jay Shaffer says he lets the Oysters from his (East Coast) oyster farm grow until the fall, because otherwise they're too small and tasteless. So, what about all these other Oysters I'm slurping down? Not ready? Or are Pacific Ocean oysters OK?
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4 Comments:
The way I understand it, you don't eat oysters with months without R's in them (May, June, July, and August) for one main reason -- it's usually pretty hot during these months, and there's probably nothing worse than eating a bad oyster. However with modern methods of rearing and shipping, Larousse Gastronomique agrees that they're safe to eat year round. They point out that provided the oyster is alive when you buy it, and opened only at the last moment, they'll probably be completely safe to consume raw.
DaveFaris at 11:12PM on 05/11/07
My understanding is that it has less to do with healthy as much as that they spawn duing the warmer months. The result is that they use up a good deal more of the protean duing those months and therefore require time to regain their strength. I'm not a bivalve expert and this is second hand from sellers. So safe to eat, but perhaps not in there peak flavor and condition.
Husband at 2:04AM on 05/12/07
With modern refrigeration and transportation, temperature has just about nothing to do withit, but I can see where that association was once made. During the mating season (those R-less months), they aren't as crisp (for want of a better word), but still tasty--or maybe I just can't imagine a month without oysters!
BaHa at 9:35AM on 05/12/07
I just Googled and found a link that backs up Husband's answer that they're OK to eat, just not as tasty:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/10/19/FDGSJF7RHK1.DTL
"In a natural oyster cycle, oysters spawn during the summer, when water temperatures rise. When putting its energies into spawning, oyster flesh turns soft and milky, the opposite of the crisp, clean taste and mouthfeel that delight oyster lovers."
It also says that Pacific ones that are hybridized should be OK to eat and perhaps tastier than the East Coast ones:
"There is no off season for Pacific oysters because they are hybridized.
Pacific oysters have been altered to spawn very lightly, so that most of us cannot taste the difference in the summer. "
I did have some Maine oysters last night and noticed that they were getting a little on the small size, in comparison with past weeks' oysters.
kathryn at 2:20PM on 05/14/07