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Consolidated "Oysters - where to buy? Your favorites? Etc." thread

Consolidated "Oysters - where to buy? Your favorites? Etc." thread

Old Sep 25, 2010, 12:02 am
  #16  
 
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We have some nice big oysters here in Coos Bay. Very tasty, fresh from the oyster farms down the road.
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Old Sep 25, 2010, 1:14 am
  #17  
 
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For more expensive ones, I'd go with Kusshi. For cheaper ones, I like Royal Miyagi.
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Old Sep 25, 2010, 4:33 am
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by marais
I noticed that the OP is based in NYC. For you, the choice of oyster is simple: choose local, or at least from Atlantic waters from Long Island north. The closer the oyster to you, the fresher and more delectable it will be.
This is a good point, as long as one does not have a strong bias toward/against certain varieties. Raw oysters must be consumed alive and as fresh as possible.

Originally Posted by marais
Being a native Southerner, and raised on tastes of oysters from the (pre-BP) Gulf of Mexico - those big plump but pale-flavored Gulf oysters - my first taste of CT Bluepoints in NYC as a young adult was a real surprise. This taste was vital, fresh as the open sea, bracing and yet voluptuous. It cried out for Sancerre or muscadet (as opposed to Budweiser with those Gulf oysters). Cold-water oysters have it all over those sourced from warmer waters for complexity of flavor when served on the half shell.
I'm surprised by this. As a Gulf Coast native displaced to NYC, I have the exact opposite opinion. I find Atlantic oysters to be too creamy and fatty tasting, and lacking the salinity of Gulf oysters. I like raw Gulf oysters with a racy New Zealand sauvignon blanc or a crisp, young Chablis. Unfortunately, Gulf oysters are impossible to find up here.

I wonder how much our differing opinions are infuenced by the freshness of the oysters we have been eating. The key indicator to me that an oyster is fresh is when the shell is filled with salt water. When you shuck an oyster and it drenches your hand with several ounces of seawater, you know it's still good. As the oysters begin to die, they discharge the seawater and are simply moist, but not immersed, inside.
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Old Sep 25, 2010, 6:27 am
  #19  
 
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I enjoy most oysters but my fave are East Coast, particularly Fisher Islands.

Enjoy the variety & for something completely different, head to NOLA and enjoy some charbroiled oysters from Dragos

http://www.nolacuisine.com/2006/03/1...oyster-recipe/

wishing you some good eatin'!
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Old Sep 25, 2010, 6:31 am
  #20  
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First thing I thought of was kumamoto. I love the smaller, sweeter oysters from the west coast/Pacific, though the native oysters fromthe east coast are also delicious (Wellfleet and the likes).

I had some in OZ that were also fantastic, though I don't know what they were.
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Old Sep 25, 2010, 6:32 am
  #21  
 
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FRESH ^
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Old Sep 25, 2010, 7:47 am
  #22  
 
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As long as they are fresh, I haven't found a raw oyster I didn't like....

I suspect many New Yorkers were surprised to find that there was something of an oyster shortage in/around the city during the oil spill harvesting moratorium. A Hell of a lot of Gulf oysters (source unannounced) are sold in NYC (and rarely is the burlap bag's label available for inspection by the "picky").
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Old Sep 25, 2010, 11:56 am
  #23  
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down here on the Chesapeake, we have some oysters. most of what i consider the better ones come from small areas and are sold by place of final growth.

lynnhavens and chincoteagues come to mind. quite surprisingly, the oyster from the lower potomac river is a great oyster. not real salty, not readily available, but a very fine specimen.

oysters in the maritime Provence in france are pretty amazing. must be 100 varieties. each claiming to be the finest.

this guy has a lot of oyster info"

http://www.oysterguide.com/maps

and here

http://www.oysterguide.com/book/what...-eater-are-you

Last edited by slawecki; Sep 25, 2010 at 12:42 pm
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Old Sep 25, 2010, 1:03 pm
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by frankmu
We have some nice big oysters here in Coos Bay. Very tasty, fresh from the oyster farms down the road.
I've had good oysters in numerous locations, but by far the best I've ever had were at the Yaquina Bay oyster farm in Newport Oregon (ONP). I had had their oysters numerous times before, but this was the first time I had them freshly shucked right at the farm. They were outstanding, and being able to eat them on the dock with the salt air really added to the experience. So I would emphasize fresh fresh fresh, regardless of type or location.
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Old Sep 25, 2010, 1:33 pm
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My favorites are Appalachicola oysters eaten at Gene's Oyster Bar in Panama City. Gene personally selects the oysters as they are unloaded at the dock. If they are not to his liking, he just closes for the day! I always call to make sure they are open.

The oysters are shucked in front of you, as you sit at the bar. There is no alcohol served....only Cokes in the old fashioned green bottles, which you help yourself to from one of those old Coke coolers with the bottle opener on the side.

The raw oysters are served on a plastic tray, with sleeves of saltine crackers, and homemade hot sauce made by Mrs. Gene. The heat in the sauce depends on whether she is mad at Gene or not.

After you have eaten all you want, they count the empty oyster shells and total your bill. Pure heaven!
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Old Sep 27, 2010, 9:09 am
  #26  
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Originally Posted by nerd
What Sweet Willie said.

^
And another vote for Sweet Willie's comments. I tend to stick with the local fare, figuring they are going to be the freshest of the offerings.
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Old Sep 27, 2010, 7:16 pm
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I love a nice plate of cold water Atlantic oysters, with a gin martini or crisp sauv or fume blanc. Blue Points and Wellfleets are my favorites, though Matunuck and Watch Hill and several others here in RI are quite nice.

Oysters are part species, and part terroir (or merroir?). All oysters on the east coast (including the gulf) are the same species (C. virginica), with variations in taste and consistency based on local growing conditions; an overwhelming majority of them are farmed. Pacific oysters (C. gigas) are common around the Pacific Rim, but to my taste lack the minerality of the northeastern oysters I enjoy most; Pacific oysters have been at the center of my most disappointing oyster experiences. There has been talk of using gigas to clean the Chesapeake, but there are fears about introducing species. Kumamoto (C. sikamea) are farmed primarily in the Northeast; delicious, but hard to get around here.
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Old Sep 27, 2010, 7:39 pm
  #28  
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Originally Posted by PVDProf
...Oysters are part species, and part terroir (or merroir?). All oysters on the east coast (including the gulf) are the same species (C. virginica), with variations in taste and consistency based on local growing conditions; an overwhelming majority of them are farmed. Pacific oysters (C. gigas) are common around the Pacific Rim, but to my taste lack the minerality of the northeastern oysters I enjoy most; Pacific oysters have been at the center of my most disappointing oyster experiences. ....
Agree completely with your points. Pacific oysters in Australia taste far better than in US west coast despite being the same species; an interesting difference. Sydney rock oysters (tweed river) are a different species (smaller and very mineral tasting). In fact a lot like what I remember Long Island oysters tasting like in the 1980s (their taste changed then, and hasn't been as good since!). The best oysters that I've eaten in 2010 have been at Richmond Oyster in Melbourne Australia (this is a fish wholesaler supplying most restaurants in Melbourne that also sells to the public). Most disappointing was in Barcelona and in Paris (bland).

Grand Central Oyster Bar (in Grand Central station) used to be fabulous for oyster but not in the past decade (sadly). In fact haven't had good oyster anywhere in Manhattan for many years now (Boston is better, but not by much). Southern Hemisphere seems to have all the good oysters now.
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Old Sep 27, 2010, 8:20 pm
  #29  
 
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At Wegmans last weekend, they had an oyster sampling. Oysters from the VA tidewater area. Same species of oyster but some farmed in the river, bay and ocean. The difference in salinity was really marked. They were all delicious. I just need to be able to shuck them without piercing my hands!!!
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Old Sep 27, 2010, 11:06 pm
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im on the kumamoto train
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