There is an evolution going on right before our eyes! Oysters have become BIG news – having made the most recent covers of Mobile Bay Magazine and New Orleans Magazines.
I write about these odd and delicious wonders in a piece in GUMBO LOVE called ‘Notes On Oysters’. Since that published, the culture of oysters has evolved even further. These coastal delicacies have always been not just ‘on my radar’ as a chef, but in my kitchen, on my table, and in my gumbo for forever! It’s funny, ever since the dawn of refrigeration, the rule to only eat oysters in an R month really became obsolete. But folks (like me) like their customs and I have kept and even write about the R rule.
But very recent history has presented us with rapid developments in oyster farming – making cultivated specialty oysters an art form. This new wave of oysters might just upend the ‘season’ for oysters altogether making it so that we can and SHOULD eat oysters all year long.
What’s most interesting is that the forefront of the oyster farming movement is happening in my own back yard …in rural coastal Alabama, Dauphin Island to be exact. There is some debate amongst folks about the different methods and processes of oyster to table. I am still very fond of and do business with fisheries and neighbors who deal in traditional harvesting and commerce. And I never pass up an opportunity to make the oyster pilgrimage down to Apalachicola. I’m just fascinated watching this evolution of the mighty mollusk! What do you think? And what’s your favorite oyster dish??
