Fall Oysterfest Season
Autumn. The water gets cold, the oysters get plump and sweet, and oyster festivals blossom up and down America’s coast, so get out there and royster with the oysters.
Upcoming standouts include Wellfleet Oyster Fest Oct 15-16; US Oyster Festival in St. Mary’s, MD (home of the national shucking championships) Oct 15-16; Oyster Bay Oyster Festival on Long Island Oct 15-16, Oysterfest at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Oct 29; Urbanna Oyster Festival in Virginia on Nov 4-5, and Florida Seafood Festival in Apalachicola Nov 4-5.
In this issue:
- Beausoleil Dudes Inducted into Oyster Hall of Fame
- Peat in the House
- World’s Most Expensive Oyster?
- Billion Oyster Project and Puget Sound Restoration Fund
- Ever Had Eel Lakes?
- The Essential Oyster Oct 4!
- Contest: Name That Oyster!
- It’s Cancale, of Course
Beausoleil Dudes Inducted into Oyster Hall of Fame
On September 30, Acadian legends Amédée Savoie and Maurice Daigle of BeauSoleil Oysters were inducted into the Oyster Hall of Fame at Shaw’s Crab House in Chicago, joining dozens of other luminaries who have transformed oyster culture in the past few decades. Beausoleils are little gems of far northern Canada, well known for their likability and shuckability, and they’ve converted many an oyster skeptic. Ever had one? Rate it here.
Peat in the House
And dulse, too! Canadian shucking champion and premier publican Patrick McMurray is bringing Ireland to Toronto this fall at his already-pretty-damned-Irish pub The Ceilli Cottage, North America’s go-to spot for Irish oysters, including the hard-to-find Natives. This fall, there’s genuine turf smoldering for that straight-outta-Galway vibe. There’s also dulse, the go-to bar snack of the New Brunswick coast, to complete the North Atlantic intertidal experience.
World’s Most Expensive Oyster?
Oyster guru Brian Kingzett recently snapped this shot of the menu in a Paris oyster bar. Yes, that’s 39 Euros for a single Pied-de-Cheval, which as far as we can tell is the most expensive oyster ever sold. Pied de Cheval (“horse’s hoof”) are huge, old, wild European Flats, and they’re a rare treat, but...strange times.
Billion Oyster Project and Puget Sound Restoration Fund
The world needs more oysters. On dining plates, sure, but also in estuaries, where they clean the water and serve as key habitat for hundreds of species. To help achieve that end, OysteRater is now donating 10% of its profits to two standouts in oyster restoration, one on each coast: Billion Oyster Project and Puget Sound Restoration Fund. The New York Harbor School’s Billion Oyster Project has already restored 20 million oysters to New York Harbor and will eventually restore, yes, one billion. And PSRF has planted 10 million native Olympias in Puget Sound and restored 40 acres of Oly beds. Here’s why this matters so much.
Ever Had Eel Lakes?
Eel Lake is part of an amazing complex of long, skinny lakes on Nova Scotia’s southwest tip (near Yarmouth, where the ferry from Maine lands). In recent years, some lovely new oysters have been appearing there, including Eel Lakes, which are the newest addition to OysteRater. Seen them? Tried them? Kiss and tell.
The Essential Oyster Oct 4!
The book you’ve all been waiting for finally hits stores October 4. Thanks for your patience. The Essential Oyster is a kaleidoscope of color photos, colorful text, and enthusiastic if not entirely defensible opinions on taste, temptation, and merroir. Snag a copy, or take a sneak preview here. If you live in an oystery city, there’s a good chance Rowan will be in town for a dinner or signing. Check out the schedule here.
Contest: Name That Oyster!
Here’s another shot (above) from The Essential Oyster by photographer extraordinaire David Malosh. Where is it? Hint: Not Mars, but that sand is a dead giveaway. Be the first to email the correct answer to oysterater@gmail.com and you’ll receive a free bottle of County Line Rose, named America’s best rose by the New York Times, courtesy of winemaker Eric Sussman, who calls the wine “oyster-inspired,” meaning he created it to accompany him on his many Tomales Bay oyster jaunts. Winner and location to be revealed next newsletter.
It’s Cancale, of Course
This shot from the last newsletter was correctly identified as Cancale, France (the biggest oyster-producing spot on earth) by self-described NoMad beer dork Jenny Eagleton, who submitted the correct answer moments after the newsletter went out (and minutes ahead of several others). You all are too smart! We’re going to have to get more obscure.
- The OysteRater Team
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