Casanova Quote " I placed the shell on the edge of her lips and after a good deal of laughing, she sucked in the oyster, which she held between her lips. I instantly recovered it by placing my lips on hers."
There are two types of oyster that our grown in the British Isles these are, Crassostrea Gigas (Pacific oyster) and Ostrea Edulis (native oyster). The taste of both oysters is similar although the native oyster is a slower growing oyster and has more of a round shaped shell.
The saying "only eat oysters when there is a r in the month" relates only to native oysters and NOT Pacific oysters. This is due to native oysters spawning in the summer months when the water is at its warmest, whilst Pacific oysters need a much higher water temperature to spawn.
Oysters are rich in iodine low in cholesterol high in zinc (zinc is good for circulation and boosts the bodies immune system).
Bigbury Bay Oysters are 100% organic, feeding on the naturally occuring phytoplankton and organic detritus from sea water.
Our oysters go through a depuration process prior to being sold, this process uses ultra violet light to kill any bacteria which may have been present.
The Oysters that are sold are generally 3 to 4 years old when they are at their best, but if left can live to an age of 20 to 30 years.
A team of American and Italian researchers found rare amino acids in oysters which increased the levels of sex hormones. A process called high-performance liquid chromatography was used which identified two unusual amino acids, D-aspartic and N-methyl-D-aspartic. These amino acids trigger a chain reaction of hormones that ends with the production of testosterone in males and progesterone in females. Increased levels of these hormones in the blood make you more sexually active. Oysters must be eaten raw to be most effective as cooking reduces the quantity of the two amino acids.
Oysters start their lives as larvae, their larval development takes 3 weeks, once the shell hardens a foot develops and the larvae is able to crawl around until it finds a suitable substrate to attach to, where it will then grow into an oyster.
Pacific oysters are protandrous and start off as males and then change into females between spawning seasons.
Shucked oysters may twitch when lemon juice is squeezed onto them, this only occurs occasionally and when the oyster is quite dry. Fresh oysters have a large amount of salty liquor and this dilutes the lemon juice and therefore the oyster will not twitch.
Rich the Oyster Man says
Live Life, Love, be Free and eat Oysters.
Live Life, Love, be Free and eat Oysters.