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22/12/2024
Months with an ‘R’ is talked about often with oysters, but what is it all about..?----
There are two types of oyster that grow in the British Isles.
Oysters that you would typically enjoy with lelmon, tabasco. or a mignonette, are probably Pacific Rock Oysters (Crassostrea gigas) which are not indigenous to UK waters. However this species is suitable for farming methods and comprises of 99% of the world’s oyster consumption. These are available all year round!
However there is another species which is a true British Oyster, known as the Native Oyster (Ostrea. edulis). It is characterised by its flat and rather round shell. And as the saying goes, only available in months with an ‘R’ (September-April). These oysters have a completely different taste to their non-indigenous counterparts.
These were those that were enjoyed by the Romans during their conquest, especially those from the Thames estuary, which they returned to Rome as a delicacy. Until the advent of modern oyster farming practices, these were the primary shellfish consumption of the Victorians.
Reasons for their seasonal availability include:
- Ecological reasons, during the summer it is best to leave them undisturbed to reproduce and maintain a healthy stock
- Taste/Texture, when they are spawning the creaminess of the oyster does not compliment the mineral/metallic complement of the oyster.
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