OYSTERS. One of the most democratic of food luxuries is the oyster—you find it in high favor in the most expensive establishments, yet it is equally abundant in "popu lar price" restaurants, in lunch rooms and in the cheapest of eating stalls. In stores, it is sold both in and out of the shell, fresh and canned, and it is eaten in every con ceivable way ! Among the best known varieties are: Blue Points, Rockaways, Lynnhavens, Saddle Rocks, Cotuits, Cape Cods, Buzzard Bays, etc.
These titles have in many sections lost much of their first significance by trade misuse. "Blue Point," for example, is often, though incorrectly, applied to all small oysters, irrespective of their geographical source ; and "Rockaway" and "Saddle Rock," particularly the former, are similarly employed for large sizes. As a matter of fact, there are both small and large oysters of all varieties, the difference in size being chiefly that of age.
A small quantity of European oysters is imported every year—particularly of the French Marennes, which has a greenish color from feeding on a green seaweed, but it is intended only for limited consumption in a few cosmopolitan establishments. The general trend is the other way 'round, for every year sees large exports of American oysters, which are almost universally conceded to be the finest in the world.
Oysters have been enjoyed as food as far back as history takes us and have been an object of special culture for a couple of thousand years. Every country has its own particular method of cultivation, for within the last century even those sections where the natural crop is largest have been compelled to resort to special growing to keep pace with the enormous annual consumption.
In England, the most popular method consists in spreading the brood-oysters over smooth, hard, clean areas. In Holland and France, they are bred on tiles ranged sideways in rows along the shores and thence later removed to the deeper waters from which they are dredged for the market. In this country, the seed-oysters are gener ally spread on a carefully laid bed of old shells—oyster shells, mussel shells, etc.
The growing period intervening between the first setting and the final shifting, is ordinarily three years, but is subject to variations in accordance with the size of the seed when planted, its rate of growth, the size desired, etc. On some grounds the rate of growth is much more rapid than on others.
Between March 1 and July 1, the planter shifts the oysters he intends to market in the fall, from beds of soft bottom to those of hard bottom.
This change has been found beneficial to the oyster, as it clears it of mud and other extraneous substances and improves its color and flavor, and it also gives an opportunity for separating the clusters, when necessary, into single oysters. The bed thus cleared by shifting is replanted with seed-oysters, obtained generally from natural beds.
The season for marketing opens with Sep tember. The oysters are taken by means of dredges and tongs and are prepared for the mar ket by "culling" or sorting by sizes, the dirt and attached shells being removed during the process.
In some cases the cleaning is assisted by dump ing them on the sand at low tide, removing them at the next low tide.
The three sizes chiefly recognized in the trade are "half-shells," the smallest, usually preferred for eating raw ; "culls," medium size, for consumption raw, stewing, etc.; and "box," the largest, generally for frying—although true oyster lovers take delight in large Lynnhavens or other deep sea oysters "on the half-shell." The eating of oysters raw is as correct from a hygienic standpoint as from that of the epicure. Raw, the component parts of the oyster practically digest themselves in the human stomach. Cooked, the human stomach must do the work as for other food.
California oysters are very much like those of the Mediterranean and other parts of Europe—small and of the same coppery taste. Those found further north, on the coasts of Oregon and Washington, are similar to the Atlantic varieties.