OYSTER TASTING
NOTES
We list oysters first by
species, and then by market name, which is usually the location of
harvest or of the oyster farm that cultivates them. I compare
this to a wine list which is divided into varietals, and then
wineries. Furthering the analogy, I like to explain that two
oysters of the same species, say virginica, which is the
native East Coast oyster, will taste very different if grown in
different locations. Hence a Blue Point, from off Long Island
is distinct from a virginica harvested off the coast of
Wellfleet, Massachusetts, or one from Cape Breton, Malpeque or from
our own Tomales Bay (where Hog Island Oyster Company harvests a
precious, delicious few every year). Like 4 different crops
of cabernet sauvignon, virginica may grow successfully in
many places, but they will always taste distinctly of their aquatic
"terroir." Indeed, being filter feeders, oysters
usually taste exactly of their terroir.
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