Oysters “R” In

Man's romance with the oyster goes back thousands of years with the first clear documentation being descriptions of the Romans' insatiable appetite for them. The famous Rutupians from the shores of Rent in Roman England were the favorite. Generally, the huge banquets became lascivious orgies with the guests gorging themselves with oysters. The historian, Edward Gibbon relates, "the beastly Emperor, Vitellius once ate a thousand oysters in a day."

From the top of the social ladder down to the bottom rung and the poor, oysters were universal and special. The rich satisfied the appetite of luxury, the poor gathered them for survival.

During the "Gay Nineties" dining out became very fashionable for the rich and powerful. During the peak years (1890-1910) over two million bushels of oysters were harvested a year, (close to half a billion oysters). The packers and distributors along the Bay from Bay Shore, West Sayville, and Patchogue shipped about 75% of their harvest into New York City. The balance went off to London, Liverpool, San Francisco, Chicago, and St. Louis. As the frontier moved westward the settlers wanted their oysters.

At the height of the mania there were over 850 oyster bars, cellars, saloons, and restaurants in the City. Over a thousand pushcarts sat on street corners, serving up half-shells to shoppers, clerks, and the urban poor. The dressing was simple: they sprinkled lemon, pepper, and perhaps some vinegar on the raw morsel and down it went. Today we disguise it with a heavy cocktail sauce of ketchup, horseradish and Tabasco. We lose the taste of the rich, nutty flavor.

. The "R" restriction dates back to a colonial law of 1715. It was primarily a conservation measure as oysters spawn in June and July. Unlike crabs and lobsters, you can't tell the sex of an oyster unless you see the eggs and the sperm released. The eggs are so minute that a quart jar would hold all the seeds for a 20,000,000 bushel year. Also, there must have been concern about spoilage in hot weather with minimum cooling ability. The law was repealed in 1971, but you're still better off eating oysters in the "R" months. In the off months they tend to be watery, milky and flat tasting. When the "R' season opened there were numerous pictures-of President Hoover happily greeting the job news. The papers went on to say the President and Mrs. Hoover had half shells for lunch -- they specified "the prime Blue Points."

Also, in 1932, at a convention of the Oyster Growers Association in Atlantic City just a few days before the season opened, a Dr. Vera Koehring, of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, spoke and said that it is cruel and inhuman to crack open an oyster's shell, and twist him/her loose from the shell. Dr. Koehring went on to say, " The oysters before being shelled should be given an anesthetic." She said several harmless ones like lactic add, boric acid and a light solution of carbon dioxide would suffice. She also pointed out that the cost of "shucking" would be reduced from 25 cents to 2 cents a gallon. It was bizarre, -- we were looking to create jobs, not lose them. One article, after praising the oyster and the 20,000 jobs created, commented that the railroad barons had been mumbling for weeks on how to create 200 jobs.

In New York the heart of the shellfish industry was the Great South Bay, about 20 miles long and approximately 41/2 miles wide. From Bay Shore, to West Sayville to Patchogue the Bay was densely covered with the most famous clam and oyster beds in the world. At one time, the bay provided 75% of all the clams consumed across the country. Going through the years, biologists have catalogued over 200 species of oysters. When you're rated number 1, 2 or 3 like the Blue Point, you know you're special.

It all started in the 1850s, when a number of Hollanders emigrated to our shores, most going west to farm, the remainder were water people who heard about the great opportunities along the Great South Bay. The oyster industry was based on the hard work, spiritual faith and marketing acumen that the Dutch employed.