With the growth of oyster farming along the coast of the Gulf, oyster lovers are coming across more and more opportunities to enjoy the different varieties of oysters at the best raw bars. In a number of seafood restaurants, the oyster menu is starting to look like a wine list or a chalkboard of local beers.
Typically, oyster lovers rejoice at the idea of getting to order up a platter of oysters from three or four different areas, savoring the differences and debating which ones are best. But the prelude to this celebration is often the guests asking the server or the shucker about the different varieties, why they differ, which ones are salty, which ones are petite and so on.
Training teaches oyster essentials
To help servers and shuckers at seafood restaurants and raw bars sort through the different varieties (and maybe the most dedicated oyster consumers), the Auburn University Shellfish Lab, in cooperation with Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, developed and offers “Oyster Essentials.” This training program is provided to restaurant staff and distributors to provide their employees a “compass” to understand what makes each oyster variety unique. How do we help these folks find their oyster bearings?
View PDF of the Oyster Compass publication.
Species
We start with ‘S’, which stands for species. The first thing anyone needs to know about an oyster variety is what species it is. Here on the Gulf Coast, all the oysters will be the native Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica, if you want to get all formal). Some menus will include offerings from the Pacific Coast, which might include the Pacific oyster or the Olympia oyster. As you might expect, each species has a unique flavor profile. The Eastern oyster is very mild and smooth, where, for example, the Pacific oyster has a stronger flavor.
Environment
We then head to ‘E’, which stands for environment. Oysters, regardless of species, are fairly humble and take on the flavor of the environment where they are grown. Most notably, salinity can be very different across different bays and sounds and can vary at different times of year. Beyond saltiness, the different nutrients and habitats of each bay can impart a distinct flavor to oysters.
Nurture
Next comes ‘N’, which here stands for nurture. For farm-raised oysters, different farmers make different choices about how to raise their oyster crops. Some farmers raise their oysters in bags floating right below the water surface, bouncing in the waves, while others raise their oysters in trays nested on the seafloor. Some farmers regularly tumble their oysters to help the oysters form deep cups, while keeping the oysters petite. Some farmers let their oysters grow to a larger size with irregular shapes, more like an oyster from a wild oyster bed. Farmers can affect the oyster so much that in some cases different varieties of the same species can be raised in the same bay but still look and even taste very different – reflecting the decisions that the farmer makes.
Who and Why?
Finally, we get to ‘W’, which is the who and the why. What do we mean here? As every oyster variety is unique, every oyster farmer has his or her own story about why they farm oysters. While it may not affect the flavor of the oyster, most consumers want to know something about the farmer that raised the food they are about to enjoy. A commercial fisherman turned to farming, a businessperson who has given up her desk job for working out of a skiff, or a high-schooler looking for a way to make a living in the coastal town where he was born and raised – those details often matter to someone making a choice about which variety to get.
By using this compass, anyone should be able to get a good understanding of what makes each variety unique and how the different varieties differ. And the appreciation of those differences often allows oyster lovers to enjoy that platter of oysters all the more – and maybe order another dozen.
For restaurants and distributors interested in this training program, please contact Becky Wasden, the oyster aquaculture education specialist at the Auburn University Shellfish Lab, to find out about details and availability of sessions.