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.