To quote Rowan Jacobsen, they have a somewhereness about them, like great wines. Each one is distinct due to the tastes specific to the areas and environments they grow. The oyster season extends from September through April and peak oyster consumption is during the winter months. Furthermore, La Cote Basque, the Grande Dame of French cuisine in New York City had on its menu Oysters in Season. Thats it. In fact, the average New Yorker back then ate 36 lbs of fish and shellfish a year, more than twice the national average now. When an oyster spawns, and for a while afterwards, it is a little flimsy. It takes between 2 and 4 years for them to reach maturity. A CLASSIC SHELLFISH FAVORITE - Pacific Northwest Oysters From Tide to Table Our shellfish farms yield some of the best, and freshest oysters. THE RAW OYSTER'S TASTING GUIDE NAME TYPE LOCATION FLAVOR PROFILE OYSTER CULTIVATION SIZE Alaska Gold Pacific Alaska clean pure taste, sweet meat, high brininess, hint of mineral, lots of liquor Suspended Tray & Tumbled up to 3" Alba Bras D'Or Lakes Atlantic Nova Scotia, Canada sweet, balanced brininess Suspension Tray to Bottom Culture up to 3.5" Their flavor is a combination of creamy, melon-like, salty, and vegetal. The hatcheries attempted to cross breed Miyagi and Kumamoto, hoping to get a fast growing, Kumamoto flavored, winter spawning oyster. I think its in part due to the new interest in foods that are authentic, are deeply connected to a place, traceable and sustainable. Some popular types include Kusshi and Marin Miyagi. The shell can be a whitish-green color. Low in calories and high in protein, oysters make a great addition to any healthy diet. Fanny Bay: farmed, West Coast. Amildly sweet and lemonyflavor is noticeable as the saltiness abates. Native to Japan, it is now grown here in America where, according to legend, it was shipped with Pacific Oyster seed, accidentally or not, and is now very much at home in the Pacific Northwest. Kumamotos have a lot in common with Pacific oysters. Farmed oysters are basically wild oysters, just a little pampered. Pacifics have a distinctly more fluted, sharply pointed shell than Atlantics or European flats. Kumamotos are small, sweet, almost nutty oysters characterized by their deep, almost bowl-shaped shell. Do not try to use a normal kitchen knife to shuck oysters! All distinct. Want more of our free, weekly newslettersinyourinbox? Here are a few helpful tips. Chef Kenny Tufo clearly believes the old expression, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." These days, to entice more customers to try their oysters, producers have come up with some catchy names. Skookum: farmed, West Coast. They are not artificially fed or given hormones or antibiotics of any kind. And Does It Go Bad? Pacific oysters are small and sweet and the world's most cultivated oyster. If you find a small crab inside oysters, this is considered lucky! 3-6 across. Totten Inlet is famous for oysters with a nori finish. Environmental regulations and constant tracking of water levels and food safety laws help keep the farms clean and safe, and cultivation advancements such as triploids and quick spawning have greatly reduced or completely eliminated the time when oysters are less marketable.For me, nothing beats knocking back a dozen or two ice cold oysters with a cold beer on a hot summers day. Shellfish are stuck in this algae bloom and may become infected with toxins and bacteria. He graduated from Arizona State University and has been bartending for about 20 years now, starting when he was just thirteen! Many experts refer to these species as the Chardonnay of Oysters because of their saline, fruity flavor, and beautifully fluted and sculptured cells that come with deep cups. They have a distinct saltiness that has strong flavors of the sea. Olympias at the market and in restaurants are cultivated, mostly in the Puget Sound and British Columbia. Other examples of bivalve molluscs include, mussels, clams, cockles, scallops. They have a smooth, textured inside, with a kiwi-like finish. All species of oysters also play an important role in marine ecosystems. Buy live oysters for wholesale. This is all done at the seed hatchery and the intention of developing triploids is to meet the industrys need for year round marketable oysters. In general, East Coast oysters are very salty and briny, with a clean, crisp seawater flavor. East coast oysters are often springy, salty, clean, and juicy with savory notes, but West coast ones are less salty and sweeter, with a creamy and plump texture with melon or cucumber flavors. These mussels are the tiniest of all kinds. They look identical at first glance, coming in some shade of grey with a similar briny flavour. The Olympia mussels are native to North Americas northern Pacific coast. Kumamoto (WA) Mintersweet. Because of this, they are also called New Zealand rock oysters or Auckland oysters. Olympia oysters are native to the northwest coast of North America. So, in that spirit, with so many oysters available atFultonFishMarket.com, let's get to know the different varieties, find out how do oysters taste and how you can know what is the difference between East Coast oysters and West Coast oysters: But, as popular as oysters are today, in New York City at least, they were once even more popular. Each a little (or a lot) different as influenced by itsmeroir. West Coast oysters on the other hand are usually sweet, deep cut, plump, and round with fluted edges. There are just five species of oysters harvested in the U.S.; all other differences come from where they live, the water they filter, and how they're handled. We offer the world's largest assortment of seafood online. , come Beau Soleils, Pemaquids, Wellfleets, Delaware Bays, Malpeques, Blue Points, Ladies Pass, Pointe aux Pins, and Isle Dauphines to name just a (very) few. To eat fresh raw oysters, only a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of cayenne pepper is enough to enjoy this tasty delicacy. Just as wine grapes are influenced by sunlight, rainfall, temperature, soil conditions and a bunch of other things I dont pretend to know about, oysters are greatly influenced by water temperature, salinity, currents, phytoplankton, the sea bed, mud, minerals from the surrounding land, and how long theyre grown before harvesting. So, although some producers call their oysters Maine Belon Oysters, these arent true Belons.. If you're going really big, get a 10 dz bag to eat raw AND a half gallon of shucked for cooking. Oysters could even help protect against heart disease due to their relatively large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. One shell is ridged and bowl-shaped and the other is flatter. The names and locations of all of these are meticulously listed, as well as flourishing descriptions of their flavor notes. It seems consumers these days take a much greater interest in where their food is from, how it's caught, and the overall state of the fishery itself. Ostrea edulis are Belon oysters. Online Ordering Unavailable. Kumamotos are widely cultivated in Japan and the West Coast. Specializing in West Coast oysters is Cavatina restaurant at the Sunset Marquis Hotel. There's no right way to eat an oyster. The hue of the cover can vary from purple-black to white, with yellow or brown lines on occasion. Beausoleil oysters are a type of Atlantic oysters grown in Canada. The color of these mussels turns to an ivory color after you cook them. Enjoyed by beginners and pros alike, Kumamoto Oysters are a popular favorite due to their fruity, sweet, melon-scented flavor and light brininess. Washington State. Their small size and sweet taste without any fishiness make them the perfect oyster to begin with. Originally from France, they were brought to Maine in the 1950s, and it wasnt until the 1980s that significant numbers began to be produced. Fluted shells. Your Guide To The Types of Chicken Used in the Culinary World, Alexandre Mazzia exploring the vegetable and herbaceous side of Japanese green teas (AM, Marseille, France), Japanese green teafood pairings : the aromatic orchestrations of Boris Campanella and Xavier Thuizat at L'crin (Hotel de Crillon's restaurant, Paris), The diversity of Japanese green teas explained by chef Sylvain Sendra, What Is Carbonara? The oyster meat is light olive green to ivory white in color and has a creamy texture. There are many varieties of oysters, all with their own unique taste, texture, and size. Think of it as. Shallow oyster shells hold the large meaty oyster muscle. Royal Miyagi Oyster - Oysterater Royal Miyagi Baynes Sound, BC View on Ocean Map Bag-to-beach oyster from BC's main growing region. Mirada Bay. They are plump, with a crisp saltiness and sweet melon notes. They were formerly two unique and independent species. They grow slower, and their size and shape are inconsistent. These sweet lovelies are widely grown on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and Canada, as well as in Japan. Cover and grill until oysters begin to open, about 4-5 minutes. What do Pacific oysters taste like? They are a favorite for both new oyster eaters and connoisseurs. They have a firm meat with sweet and briny taste. Oysters act as water filters and one oyster can filter up to 50 gallons (190 l) of water a day. These are a small type of Atlantic oyster (Crassostrea virginica) that grow to about 2.5 (6.3 cm) long in 4 years. You don't want any of the grit or sand getting in the shell once it's shucked. Mission Street Oyster Bar & Seafood Restaurant 687 Seafood Fish & Chips $$Mission The Kumamoto oyster originated in Yatsushiro Bay, Kumamoto Prefecture, but is now mostly cultivated in the United States. The inside of the shells is pearly-white. Miyagi Oysters- 50 Pcs Fresh, Live Oysters. On the plus side, they develop nice hard shells, are usually very full of meat, and have a full flavor. The waters around this area of the Atlantic create the perfect environment for high-quality oysters. These are: Crassostrea virginica, Crassostrea sikamea, Crassostrea gigas, Ostrea edulis, Ostrea lurida. The west coast have a firm texture, buttery sweet finish, and a rich creamy flavor. Naked Cowboy: wild, East Coast, Long Island Sound, NY. Miyagi Oysters The shell of this oyster is elongated and rough, with an intricate display of irregular folds. Size: approximately a 3 inch shell. The Crassostrea sikamea is the popular Kumamoto Oyster. But I can look at and eat an oyster and feel very confident at what species it is, and generally what part of the country it comes from - East Coast, West Coast, Canadian, northern, southern, Gulf Coast. These shellfish thrive in marine or brackish habitats where the water is relatively shallow. They grow from New Brunswick, Canada, to Virginia, and also in the Gulf of Mexicothe further south, the bigger they get.. The hard oyster shells are a dull purple-brown color and have a rounder shape. Pull the upper shell off and, without tipping the liquor out of the bottom shell, run your knife under the adductor muscle to disconnect it from the bottom shell. Miyagi Oysters have been cultured for over 300 years in Japan before reaching the Washington coast. An oyster's diet will vary depending on where they live; for example, some oysters feed more on phytoplankton than others since there is not as much of it near shore as there is offshore. It has a smooth, creamy texture. Kumamoto (British Columbia): Tiny, deep-cupped with a ridged and fluted shell, this is a crowd pleaser.